3 people charged amid search for suspect accused of killing 4 family members and abandoning baby

Update, 8/5/2025:

According to an Aug. 5 news release from the Jackson Police Department, Austin Drummond has been arrested.

MADISON COUNTY, Tenn. (TCN) -- Three people face charges in connection with a case involving a 29-year-old suspect who stands accused of killing four individuals and abandoning a baby.

According to the Dyer County Sheriff’s Office, on July 29, deputies responded to a report of a vehicle that had dropped off an infant in a random front yard. During the investigation, officials discovered four individuals, 21-year-old James Wilson, 20-year-old Adrianna Williams, 38-year-old Cortney Rose, and 15-year-old Braydon Williams, deceased.

Authorities identified Austin Drummond as a wanted suspect in their deaths. He faces charges of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping, felon in possession of a firearm, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a dangerous felony.

The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation (TBI) recently announced that two men, Giovonte Thomas and Tanaka Brown, and one woman, Dearrah Sanders, also face charges in connection with the case. Thomas was arrested Aug. 2 on a charge of accessory after the fact to first-degree murder, and Brown faces one count of tampering with evidence and accessory after the fact to first-degree murder. Agents charged Sanders on Aug. 4 with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.

Thomas was already being held in Madison County on a separate charge for failure to appear and will be transferred to the Lake County Jail to be arraigned on the new charges.

Investigators allege that Thomas, Brown, and Sanders assisted Drummond.

The Dyer County Sheriff’s Office announced that vehicles related to the crime were recovered, but the search for Drummond is ongoing. He should be considered armed and dangerous.

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