Case against Tennessee man accused of killing 4 people can move forward to grand jury, judge rules

TIPTONVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Data from a cellphone used by a Tennessee man accused of killing four members of the same family and kidnapping a baby showed he was in the vicinity of a wooded area where the bodies were found with gunshot wounds and covered by tarpaulins, an FBI agent said Thursday.

FBI Special Agent Scott Lawson testified during a preliminary hearing for Austin Robert Drummond, who has pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping in the July 29 killings.

Drummond appeared in court wearing handcuffs. He did not speak during the hearing. After about two hours of testimony from law enforcement officials, Lake County Judge Andrew Cook ruled that there was enough evidence to present the case to a grand jury, which will consider a formal indictment on the charges.

However, Drummond’s attorney, Bryan Huffman, noted that there was no evidence presented during the hearing that showed Drummond actually shot any of the victims.

Drummond is blamed for the deaths of the parents, grandmother and uncle of an infant found abandoned in a home’s front yard in rural west Tennessee. A weeklong search for Drummond ended Aug. 5 in Jackson, about 70 miles (115 kilometers) southeast of the location of the killings in Tiptonville.

Prosecutors have said they plan to seek the death penalty if Drummond is convicted of first-degree murder at trial.

The hearing was attended by the victims’ relatives. When a Tennessee Bureau of Investigation agent testified about the four family members being found with gunshot wounds, one of the relatives yelled “I’ve got to get out of here,” and quickly left the courtroom.

On the day of the shootings, officers responded to a call of an infant in a car seat being dropped at a “random individual’s front yard” roughly 40 miles (65 kilometers) from Tiptonville, the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office said.

Then, investigators in neighboring Lake County reported that four people had been found dead from gunshot wounds in Tiptonville. They were identified as the baby’s parents, James M. Wilson, 21, and Adrianna Williams, 20; Williams’ brother, Braydon Williams, 15; and their mother, Cortney Rose, 38.

Drummond’s girlfriend is the sister of the infant’s grandmother, according to Lake County District Attorney Danny Goodman.

During Thursday’s hearing, a sheriff’s deputy testified that the bodies were found covered by camouflage tarps in woods on state land in Tiptonville. The bodies were found near two vehicles belonging to the victims.

Lawson, the FBI agent, testified that he analyzed data from a cellphone purchased by one of the victims and used by Drummond on July 29, the day of the killings. Lawson said Drummond spoke with suspected accomplices after the four family members were believed to have been killed that morning.

Lawson said the phone was also found to be in the area of Drummond’s parents’ home, his girlfriend’s apartment and a hotel where he had been staying. Other testimony showed that acquaintances of Drummond rented a Nissan Rogue for him and were helping him throughout the day.

In all, five people have been charged with being accessories after the fact in the case.

Video played during the hearing showed a pickup truck belonging to one of the victims leaving Tiptonville after the shootings and the rented Nissan heading back toward the area of the crime scene hours later. The victim’s truck was later found abandoned in a ravine.

Drummond took the infant without consent and had the baby with him for hours until the child was dropped off in the front yard of a home in the afternoon, Goodman, the district attorney, told the judge.

Drummond has served prison time for robbing a convenience store and threatening to go after jurors. He was also charged with the attempted murder of a prison guard while behind bars, and he was out on bond at the time of the killings, Goodman has said.

Also Thursday, the judge agreed to impose an order barring Drummond and lawyers from talking to the media about the case. The gag order comes after Drummond gave an interview to a media outlet from jail.

With a population of about 3,400 people, Tiptonville is about 120 miles (193 kilometers) north of Memphis, near the Mississippi River and scenic Reelfoot Lake.