The defense for Austin Robert Drummond announced plans to file a motion to move his upcoming murder trial outside Lake County, citing intense local publicity after a weeklong manhunt. Drummond pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses; prosecutors say they may seek the death penalty. Cellphone location data reportedly placed Drummond near the scene where four relatives of an infant were found shot, though his attorney disputes that he fired the shots. Drummond was arrested Aug. 5 and a grand jury indicted him Nov. 10; no trial date has been set.
Defense Seeks Change of Venue in Tennessee Quadruple Homicide Case
The defense for Austin Robert Drummond announced plans to file a motion to move his upcoming murder trial outside Lake County, citing intense local publicity after a weeklong manhunt. Drummond pleaded not guilty to charges including first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses; prosecutors say they may seek the death penalty. Cellphone location data reportedly placed Drummond near the scene where four relatives of an infant were found shot, though his attorney disputes that he fired the shots. Drummond was arrested Aug. 5 and a grand jury indicted him Nov. 10; no trial date has been set.
02:42 AM, 11/18/2025Society
Defense Moves to Shift Trial After Weeklong Manhunt
Austin Robert Drummond, the man charged with killing four members of the same family, appeared in Lake County Circuit Court on Monday and pleaded not guilty to counts that include first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and weapons offenses. His attorney told the judge he will file a formal motion to have the trial heard by a jury drawn from outside the county, citing intense pretrial publicity and the weeklong manhunt that gripped the rural community.
Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Drummond is convicted of first-degree murder. A grand jury returned an indictment against Drummond on Nov. 10. No trial date has been scheduled.
At the brief hearing, defense lawyer Bryan Huffman told Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes that a change of venue is necessary to ensure an impartial jury. During the manhunt for Drummond, authorities arrested several people accused of assisting him after the killings.
Drummond appeared in court wearing orange jail clothing and a protective vest, with shackles on his wrists and ankles. An intense search ended with his arrest on Aug. 5 in Jackson, roughly 70 miles southeast of Tiptonville. Jackson police said he was found in a vacant building and was unarmed at the time of arrest; officers recovered several firearms, though investigators said it was unclear whether any of those weapons were used in the killings.
At a September hearing, an FBI agent testified that cellphone location data tied to a device Drummond used placed him near a wooded area where authorities discovered four bodies with gunshot wounds that had been covered with tarpaulins. Huffman has argued the evidence presented did not prove Drummond personally shot any of the victims.
The victims were identified as James M. Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Braydon Williams, 15; and Cortney Rose, 38. Authorities say the four were relatives of an infant who was later found abandoned on a home's front yard about 40 miles from Tiptonville. Dyer County Sheriff Jeff Box said the infant is "safe, healthy and being well taken care of."
Five people have been charged as accessories after the fact. District Attorney Danny Goodman told reporters Drummond has a prior criminal record that includes a conviction for robbing a convenience store, alleged threats against jurors, and a charge accusing him of attempting to murder a corrections officer while incarcerated. Goodman said Drummond was out on bond at the time of the killings.
Tiptonville, a town of roughly 3,400 residents near Reelfoot Lake and the Mississippi River, is about 120 miles north of Memphis. The court will consider the defense's motion to change venue ahead of any trial scheduling.