A manhunt is underway after a seven-month-old baby girl was abandoned in a strangerâs front yard, hours before four of her relatives were discovered murdered in a wooded area in Tennessee.
Austin Drummond, 28, remains at large after being linked to the quadruple homicide in rural Lake County last Tuesday.
Reports of the abandoned infant in neighboring Dyer County sparked a search for her guardians, leading cops to discover the bodies of the childâs parents, Matthew Wilson, 21, and Adrianna Williams, 20. Her maternal grandmother, Courtney Rose, 38, and maternal uncle, Braydon Williams, 15, were also found dead, officials said.
Tanaka Brown and Giovonte Thomas, both 29, were charged over the weekend with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder for allegedly assisting Drummond in the killings, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
As officials continue their search for Drummond, hereâs what we know about the case:
The crime
Deputies from the Dyer County Sheriffâs Office responded to reports at about 3.10 p.m. last Tuesday that a dark-colored minivan had dropped off the child in a car seat at a ârandom individualâs front yardâ in the unincorporated community of Tigrett.
It set off a scramble to find the babyâs caregivers, Stephen Sutton, a spokesperson for the sheriffâs offices in Lake and Dyer counties, said at a news conference Friday.
Just before 10.30 p.m., Rose and Williams were reported missing, according to audio of a 911 call obtained by NBC affiliate WMC-TV.
The bodies of Wilson, Rose and the two Williamses were found nearly 40 miles away later that evening in a wooded area along Carrington Road in Tiptonville, authorities said.
The baby is âsafe and being cared for,â Sutton said.
Drummond is wanted for first-degree murder, kidnapping, and unlawful firearm possession in connection with the murders of the four victims.
Authorities have not revealed how the four people died, but have ruled their deaths homicides. It was not immediately clear what led authorities to name Drummond as a suspect.
The suspect was last seen on Wednesday and believed to be in the Jackson area on Friday, TBI Director David Rausch said. Documents filed by the U.S. Marshals Service later that day speculated that Drummond may have fled the state.
Officials said he is considered armed and dangerous.
The FBI and a U.S. Marshals Service fugitive task force are among the nearly dozen agencies working on the case.
A combined reward from the TBI and U.S. Marshals Service reached $17,500.
A white 2016 Audi A3 that Drummond was believed to be driving was found unoccupied in Jackson and has since been recovered by authorities, the bureau said Friday. A white 1988 Ford pickup truck with a red stripe believed to belong to Drummond was found in Dyer County on Saturday.
Rausch revealed that there is a âfamilial relationship between the suspect and the family.â
A relative of the victims said in a Facebook post Thursday that Drummond, who is believed to have previously dated Roseâs sister, had âliterally been nothing short of amazing to us and our kids.â
It was not immediately clear how Thomas and Brown, whom the TBI described as Drummondâs âassociates,â assisted the suspect.
Authorities said Thomas is being transferred from Madison County Jail to Lake County Jail, where Brown is also being held without bond.
The suspect
Records show that Drummond has a lengthy criminal history, with the suspect out on bond at the time the family of four was found dead.
Drummond was released from prison in September 2024 after serving a 10-year sentence for aggravated robbery, stemming from a 2014 conviction in Jackson where, aged 16, he held up a gas station with a handgun.
Just two months later, in November, he was charged with attempted murder and drug-related crimes while incarcerated at the Northwest Correctional Complex in Lake County.
He is facing other charges, including attempted first-degree murder and drug charges stemming from his time in prison.
In a letter from the West Tennessee District Attorney Jody Pickens to the Tennessee Board of Parole in December 2020, obtained by WSMV Nashville, Drummond was described as someone who is ânot capable of living among society.â
Pickens wrote that recorded calls to Drummondâs father revealed apparent threats against jurors, with the suspect allegedly saying they would âregretâ their decision and that heâd âbe out one day.â Pickens said that Drummond is a âconfirmedâ member of the Vice Lords street gang, one of the largest and most violent prison gangs in the U.S.
The suspect had more than two dozen disciplinary issues in prison as of the 2020 parole hearing. They include possession of a deadly weapon, assault, refusing a drug test and gang activity.
According to a Facebook profile believed to belong to Drummond, the suspect appeared to post numerous photos from inside jail in June 2023, with the caption: âChilling 10 more months.â
On September 7, 2024, Drummond posted a selfie with the caption, âfreedom.â
The victims
Friends and family members of the victims have shared their heartbreak online.
Wilsonâs sister, Amanda Myatt, set up a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the funeral costs of the four victims.
âMatthew and Adrianna were very loving parents to beautiful baby girl whom that they got to love and support her for 7 months,â she wrote. âCourtney was sole provider for her kids.â
A separate GoFundMe campaign was set up by Wilsonâs grandmother, who said she hopes to âprovide him a proper service.â A funeral service is expected to be held for Wilson on Tuesday afternoon in Newbern.
A friend of Wilsonâs partner, Williams, told CBS affiliate News Channel 3 that she was âthe sweetest personâ who âloved being a mama.â
The coupleâs last social media update was posted a day after the birth of their little girl.
The last photo posted to a Facebook profile believed to belong to Rose, in May, appeared to show her beside her infant granddaughter.
