A relative of four people found dead in Tennessee this week described her family as heartbroken and confused, saying Thursday on Facebook that the suspect has “literally been nothing short of amazing to us and our kids.”
The statement, written by a woman who identified herself as the sister-in-law and aunt of three victims, was posted after the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation identified the suspect as Austin Robert Drummond, 29.
Drummond, who is wanted on charges of first-degree murder, aggravated kidnapping and firearms offenses, remains at large and should be considered armed and dangerous, the agency said in a news release.
Drummond, who was added to the state’s “most wanted” list, is believed to be driving a 2016 Audi A3. A reward of $15,000 is being offered for information leading to his arrest.
Authorities have not identified a possible motive.
The Facebook post’s author, who said she is married to the brother of one of the victims, did not respond to messages on the platform or phone numbers associated with her. NBC News verified her Facebook profile.
The victims, found Tuesday in northwest Tennessee’s Lake County, were identified as Matthew Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Courtney Rose, 38; and Braydon Williams, 15.
They were relatives of an infant discovered in the front yard of a home in nearby Dyer County earlier that afternoon, according to Danny Goodman, the district attorney for Lake and Dyer counties. The child was alive and was being evaluated, officials said.
Authorities have not said how the four died. NBC affiliate WMC of Memphis reported that they were discovered in a wooded area in Tiptonville, roughly 40 miles north of the area where the infant was found.
The Dyer County Sheriff’s Office said that the child was abandoned and that a witness saw the infant in a car seat and dialed 911.
In Thursday’s Facebook post, the relative wrote that her family thought they knew Drummond well.
“We all trusted him,” she wrote.
According to the post, Drummond previously dated a sister of Rose, the abandoned child’s grandmother. Wilson and Adrianna Williams were the infant’s parents, Goodman said. Braydon was the maternal uncle.
“Yes, he was close to our family,” the post says. “Yes, we cared about him and thought he cared about us. He has literally been nothing short of amazing to us and our kids every time he has been around us up until this point.”
“We NEVER expected him to cause ANY harm to ANYONE, much less anyone in our family,” the post continues. “We are heartbroken. We are confused. We are devastated. We are MORTIFIED. We are hurting. OUR KIDS ARE HURTING.”
“We want justice for my sister in law, niece, nephew, and nieces boyfriend,” the post adds.
Public records show that Drummond was convicted of armed robbery in nearby Madison County in 2014. His sentence ended last September, prison records show.
Two months after the completion of that sentence, Drummond was charged with attempted murder and drug crimes, court records in Lake County show. Goodman said the allegations were related to crimes he is accused of committing while he was incarcerated at Northwest Correctional Complex, a prison in Lake County.
Drummond was out on bond on those charges at the time of the quadruple killing, Goodman said. His lawyer in the attempted murder case did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
