Tennessee will seek death penalty against Austin Drummond for quadruple murder

Tennessee state prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Austin Drummind, the man accused of murdering four family members in Tiptonville. 

A Lake County grand jury indicted Drummond for the murders on Monday, November 10. Four of the people charged with helping Drummond were also in court Monday in Madison County for arraignments.

Prosecutors argued that Drummond lured four family members of his girlfriend, Kaitlyn Speed, to a location in Lake County and murdered them. Officers testified that they found the bodies of Cortney Rose, Adrianna Williams, Braydon Williams, and Matthew Wilson covered with tarps at that location. 

Authorities believe that Drummond took the baby of Wilson and Williams and stole a truck belonging to one of the victims. Deputies later found the baby in Dyer County, about 25 miles away, abandoned in a yard. 

Authorities captured Drummond in his hometown of Jackson, Tennessee, a week later, after an extensive manhunt. 

On October 27, a judge ruled that Drummond should be transferred to the custody of the Tennessee Department of Corrections while he awaits trial. He was originally jailed in Lake County, but the Lake County sheriff said that his jail lacked the personnel or conditions to adequately keep Drummond safe. 

They transferred him to the Obion County Jail, which, likewise, said that Drummond's safety had caused a drain on limited resources. The captain of the Obion County Jail also testified that Drummond smeared feces on his cell window, causing a safety hazard for jailers, and that officers discovered 39 Suboxone tablets on Drummond during a strip search.

Drummond's attorney appealed that decision, arguing that Drummond has not been convicted, has not received a prison sentence, and therefore should not be housed in TDOC custody. 


Austin Drummond at a preliminary hearing in September. (AP Photo George Walker IV)