Accused family-slayer warned jurors they would 'regret' convicting him in past trial - years before he 'killed family of four', cops say

Daily Mail​

2 days ago

A career criminal accused of murdering a family of four and abandoning their baby once warned jurors would 'regret' convicting him in a past court case.
Austin Robert Drummond, 28, remains on the run after he was identified as the primary suspect in the chilling Tennessee quadruple homicide of Adrianna Williams, 20; Matthew Wilson, 21; Cortney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15, last month.
Drummond was released from prison in September after serving 13 years for an armed robbery he committed at a Circle K gas station.
And it has now emerged that District Attorney General Jody Pickens vehemently opposed his conditional early release in a previous hearing in June 2020, writing a letter to the Tennessee Board of Parole warning he was 'not capable of living among society.'
'This office strongly opposes his early release on parole,' she wrote, describing him as a 'dangerous felony offender' and member of the street and prison gang, Vice Lords.
The Vice Lords gang is considered one of the largest, most notorious and violent prison gangs, founded inside a Chicago juvenile facility in 1958.
Pickens noted that after he was convicted of the crime at a jury trial, he called his father and 'threatened the jurors and the victim in this case.'
He allegedly told his father 'they are going to regret it' and 'I'll be out one day.'
Drummond was not allowed out at that 2020 parole hearing, but at the time of the murders, he was out on bond on an attempted murder charge, relating to an incident inside prison following his release in September 2024.
He allegedly had 25 disciplinary actions against him from within custody, including 'refusing orders, drug possession, defiance and being in possession of a deadly weapon.'
Pickens said his continued behavior 'clearly demonstrates that Drummond has no desire for rehabilitation and is not capable of living among society.'
Drummond is now accused of carrying out the brutal quadruple murders and dumping all four bodies in a dense, wooded area in Lake County.
Hours before the bodies were discovered, a baby was dumped in a car seat on the front lawn of a home in a quiet, rural town in northwest Tennessee.
The resident reported that a dark-colored minivan or white SUV had pulled into the yard, dropped off the child and sped away.
It later emerged Adrianna and Matthew were the baby's parents, and Cortney was the maternal grandmother. Braydon was also Adrianna's younger brother.
Authorities now believe that Drummond left the infant on the lawn just minutes before carrying out a coordinated killing of the family in a neighboring county.
Drummond had been in a relationship with Rose's sister and Williams' aunt, Kaitlyn Speed, according to the District Attorney of Dyer and Lake County Danny Goodman.
The Tennessee Department of Corrections confirmed Speed was a corrections officer at the Northwest Correctional Complex during Drummond's incarceration.
Two suspects, Tanaka Brown and Giovonte Thomas, both 29, have been taken into custody and charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
It is unclear how they know Drummond or what role they played in his alleged crimes.
He remains wanted on charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping and unlawful firearm possession.
The US Marshals Service is even offering up to $7,500 for any information leading to his arrest.
He was last seen driving his white Audi A3 sedan with visible damage to the drivers' side and the Tennessee license plate RI 01896.
Drummond also described as being around five-foot-10-inches, about 190 pounds with blue eyes, brown hair and a goatee - though authorities note he may have altered his appearance.