Police arrest suspect in killings of 4 Tennessee family members

JACKSON, Tenn. — The man wanted in the killings of the parents, grandmother and uncle of an infant found abandoned in a front yard has been arrested, police in Tennessee said Tuesday.

Austin Robert Drummond, 28, was taken into custody amid a search, police in Jackson said in a social media post. Drummond’s arrest came shortly after police had warned residents to stay inside their homes, having received a report that the man was spotted in a neighborhood. Jackson is more than 100 miles southwest of Nashville.

Further details about Drummond’s arrest weren’t immediately available, and it was not immediately clear whether he had an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Hours before the arrest, Jackson Police posted a roughly 20-second video surveillance clip showing someone they said was the suspect, wearing camouflage and carrying a firearm, trying to enter the door of an unspecified building.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has already charged Tanaka Brown, 29, and Giovonte Thomas, 29, with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Investigators allege both men “assisted” Drummond, 28, in the family’s killings.

Drummond already faces four counts of first-degree murder, one count of aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses, officials have said.

Many questions are still unanswered, including how the relatives were slain and how the baby ended up in the Tigrett area, about 40 miles from the bodies.

Last week, authorities said they found the car they believe Drummond had been driving. It was located in Jackson, about 70 miles from where the bodies were discovered and some 40 miles from where the baby was left.

Tennessee Bureau of Investigation Director David Rausch has said authorities believe the family’s killings were a targeted attack by Drummond, who had a relationship with the victims. The baby is safe and being cared for, authorities have said.

Drummond’s criminal history includes prison time for robbing a convenience store and threatening to go after jurors. He was also charged with attempted murder while behind bars.

An attorney who represented him as a teenager had not returned earlier messages from The Associated Press.

Authorities have identified the four people found dead in Tiptonville as James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15.

Wilson and Adrianna Williams were the parents of the infant who was found abandoned. Rose was Adrianna and Braydon Williams’ mother.