SUSPECT IN CUSTODY TN - 4 people found deceased, related to an infant abandoned in car seat in someone's yard (Dyer County, TN) 29 July 2025

[Magic8Ball]

His wife/gf (nobody knows for sure yet) - Cortney's sister - was working at the prison that he was in and they began a relationship.
Allegedly!
IMO.

They need to make it a felony offense for people who work in jails and prisons to have sex with inmates. They're persons in a position of trust. Make them register as sex offenders.

Termination isn't nearly enough.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

I'm still pretty convinced one guy did not pull all this off. I think there is at least one other accomplice. The witness of the baby abandonment saw two vehicles that match the descriptions of the two vehicles towed out of the woods near where the bodies were located. I can't envision how it works with only one perp. three adults, one teen and a baby spread out among two vehicles is a lot for one man to control.

He could have shot them from a distance, also possibly in two stages of attack if the vehicles were a few minutes drive apart.

If he spared the baby it could be for various reasons - that he doesn't want to go down in prison as a baby killer? or that he felt the victims had wronged him but not the baby who is too young to have had a part in any wrongdoing (in his mind)? Possible that he was psychotic and there is no logical explanation? Possible that he's a psychopath and there's nothing a regular mind could comprehend?

 

[Nikynoo]

He could have shot them from a distance, also possibly in two stages of attack if the vehicles were a few minutes drive apart.

If he spared the baby it could be for various reasons - that he doesn't want to go down in prison as a baby killer? or that he felt the victims had wronged him but not the baby who is too young to have had a part in any wrongdoing (in his mind)? Possible that he was psychotic and there is no logical explanation? Possible that he's a psychopath and there's nothing a regular mind could comprehend?

Nah, this man will be in isolation and then on death row. I think adding baby killer is neither here nor there under the circumstances.

 

[Little Nicki]

They need to make it a felony offense for people who work in jails and prisons to have sex with inmates. They're persons in a position of trust. Make them register as sex offenders.

Termination isn't nearly enough.

Is it not an offence in the USA? Over here in the UK it is, there have been a large number of women sent to prison for it recently, even in the last 12 months alone, numbers are high.

 

[Observe_dont_Absorb]

Nah, this man will be in isolation and then on death row. I think adding baby killer is neither here nor there under the circumstances.

What explanation do you think he spared the baby?

 

[Nikynoo]

What explanation do you think he spared the baby?

Tricky question and it depends on what vehicle he took. From initial news there were three vehicles mentioned, I think one, the truck with the red line is still missing. The LE news release states that he was driving in a white Audi a3. So where is the truck? Did he have help? Could it be that someone other than the suspect dropped the baby off? I cannot reconcile someone who has just killed 4 people driving 25 miles and then dropping off the baby at some random spot. The only way I can see that happening is if he took the vehicle that the baby seat was in and he didn’t realise the child was there, but by all accounts the A3 is the suspects car so I doubt the baby seat was in his car unknown? To be honest, it’s a bit of a puzzle for me at the moment.

 

[MamaHasABigButt]

I'm not assuming that the victims didn't drive out to Tiptonville themselves.
Or that both the vehicles recovered were driven there at the same time.

It's possible that some of the victims either drove or were driven out to that Tiptonville location first either with or without the suspect and then 1 or more of the victims drove to that location later on due to a threat being made or one of the victims alerting them to get over there now.

There's a ton we don't know, including at what location(s) the victims were initially put under

Tricky question and it depends on what vehicle he took. From initial news there were three vehicles mentioned, I think one, the truck with the red line is still missing. The LE news release states that he was driving in a white Audi a3. So where is the truck? Did he have help? Could it be that someone other than the suspect dropped the baby off? I cannot reconcile someone who has just killed 4 people driving 25 miles and then dropping off the baby at some random spot. The only way I can see that happening is if he took the vehicle that the baby seat was in and he didn’t realise the child was there, but by all accounts the A3 is the suspects car so I doubt the baby seat was in his car unknown? To be honest, it’s a bit of a puzzle for me at the moment.

I've considered the possibility of him using some excuse to ask to borrow a vehicle and then lure them out by claiming it broke down and he needed help, but that doesn't explain why everyone needed to be there, and he could have very well done that with his own car. The kidnapping charge makes me wonder if that was some imbecile ransom plan and the family knew and just went after him, but I figure they'd call the cops themselves. I don't know, dude. It's all weird.

 

[MamaHasABigButt]

Anyone more savvy than me found the attempted murder charge listed anywhere? Referenced here..

Suspect wanted in Lake County quadruple murder, investigation into infant found Suspect wanted in Lake County quadruple murder, investigation into infant found abandoned

 

[Leilei]

All of these charges were while he was incarcerated, so WHY ON EARTH was he let out???

• Schedule II drugs: meth (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Schedule VI drugs: manufacturing, delivering, selling, possession (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Contraband in penal facility (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Contraband – intoxicant/drugs in penal facility (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Possession of a handgun – convicted felon (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• First degree murder – attempted (Violation date: 8/29/23)

Suspect wanted in deaths of 4 people in Lake County - WBBJ TV

🚨 BREAKING: Special agents from the TBI have identified a suspect charged in connection with a quadruple homicide in Tiptonville.

www.wbbjtv.com

 

[Chimera]

Hoping no one else is harmed since it looks like the suspect is still roaming freely !!
He (if he committed these murders) literally has nothing to lose.
Nothing.
Imo.

 

[Magic8Ball]

All of these charges were while he was incarcerated, so WHY ON EARTH was he let out???

• Schedule II drugs: meth (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Schedule VI drugs: manufacturing, delivering, selling, possession (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Contraband in penal facility (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Contraband – intoxicant/drugs in penal facility (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• Possession of a handgun – convicted felon (Violation date: 07/21/2023)
• First degree murder – attempted (Violation date: 8/29/23)

Suspect wanted in deaths of 4 people in Lake County - WBBJ TV

🚨 BREAKING: Special agents from the TBI have identified a suspect charged in connection with a quadruple homicide in Tiptonville.

www.wbbjtv.com

Exactly.

The only thing I can think of is that if he served his full sentence for his prior conviction and the case r/t the above charges was still pending on his release date, maybe they couldn't keep him in prison because he's still entitled to due process even though he's "alleged" to have committed crimes while incarcerated.

But even if that's true, and we don't even know that it is, there's NO WAY he should have had a bond set at 30k, given he racked up the numerous serious charges listed above while he was still in prison.

The judge who gave this creep bond should be fired or recalled or whatever the process is for removing him.

Outrageous.

 

[ErinC]

Is it not an offence in the USA? Over here in the UK it is, there have been a large number of women sent to prison for it recently, even in the last 12 months alone, numbers are high.

What exactly it is depends on the state. It is indeed a felony in my state. It is a crime on the federal level and in virtually all states. I did not look to see if it is prosecuted as a misdemeanor (theoretically-less-serious crime) in any states, but considering there are 50, all with their own varying (sometimes wildly) criminal codes it's possible. I could not find any state in which it was not a crime at all, though I didn't give it an exhaustive look.

 

[Magic8Ball]

What exactly it is depends on the state. It is indeed a felony in my state. It is a crime on the federal level and in virtually all states. I did not look to see if it is prosecuted as a misdemeanor (theoretically-less-serious crime) in any states, but considering there are 50, all with their own varying (sometimes wildly) criminal codes it's possible. I could not find any state in which it was not a crime at all, though I didn't give it an exhaustive look.

I need to look up what Tennessee's statutes are on this. There was another case in Tennessee a couple of years back where a guard was boinking an inmate and helped him bust out of prison, then shot herself when LE caught them:

Vicky White, ex-corrections officer accused of helping Alabama inmate escape, died by suicide, coroner says

White, 56, died Monday after she and escaped inmate Casey White were captured in Indiana following a car crash that ended a more than weeklong search.

www.nbcnews.com

It seems to me like a lot of this could be avoided if female guards were banned from working in male prisons and vice-versa.

 

[OddOneOut]

What explanation do you think he spared the baby?

Seems obvious to me. The baby couldn't have identified or testified against him. Of course, it could also have been that one of the others suspected what was going to happen and dropped off the baby before going wherever they were killed.

 

[Chimera]

Wonder if any more arrests will be made ?

 

[Chimera]

and make sense as to how two cars were involved with the abandonment of sweet baby girl

Man I really hope this woman wasn't involved in the murder of her family members Because, how depraved do you have to be?

Hope not !

She may have info. on where the suspect is hiding (I'd imagine he's 'laying low') ?

 

[Suspish]

I wonder if he turned up at the house and took one of the victims at gunpoint and forced them all to get in the two vehicles in a “get in and you (second car) follow me or I’ll shoot [victim].

As for why the baby was spared (thank god, tho so cruel to wipe out her whole immediate family.. the mum and dad look so so young and happy in their pictures. They’re ALL so young.. a 15 year old kid.. and the grandma who is a year younger than me who doesn’t even have kids yet! So many long lives that should have been lived )

Many brutal murderers, as heinous as they are, still have personal lines that are too far even for them. Brian Grossburger murdering all four of those vibrant, innocent kids in cold blood while they slept/just woke up, but sparing Murphy the dog springs to mind in recent memory. As previously mentioned she is also too young to have “seen his face and have to go” so to speak.

Of course there are far far to many evil murderers where nothing is too far for them (9-months-pregnant Savannah Soto whose partner was the target! little Bella and Celeste Watts by their own “father”, elderly Stephanie and Daniel Menard, and their dog Cuddles (over Daniel buying the killer a hot dog!j and countless too many more)

Whatever the reason, she is alive, in the silver lining of a very very dark cloud. RIP Braydon, Adrianna, James, and Cortney. And hope the suspect is caught soon.. and either fries or is sent to a far less lax prison for a lifetime of decidedly less luxurious incarceration than before.

MOO

 

[ErinC]

Seems obvious to me. The baby couldn't have identified or testified against him. Of course, it could also have been that one of the others suspected what was going to happen and dropped off the baby before going wherever they were killed.

Also, murdering a baby would likely have exceedingly unpleasant consequences for him with his fellow prisoners during his eventual incarceration. Which it sounds like he has spent enough time in prison for various other things that he'd be well aware of this.

 

[su5ie]

It could have worked if he took the 15 yr old with him in his vehicle and told the other 3 to follow him. Although I agree with you, it really does look/sound like a 2 person crime (too many moving parts).

Or he took the baby first

 

[su5ie]

Search for quadruple homicide suspects goes across several west Tennessee counties

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation is searching for Austin Robert Drummond. He is the man they say is responsible for the quadruple homicide in Lake County.

www.actionnews5.com

Relative of 4 found dead in Tennessee says her family 'trusted' murder suspect who's on the run

Austin Drummond, identified Thursday as a suspect in the killings, has "literally been nothing short of amazing to us and our kids," a relative wrote.

www.nbcnews.com