A man described as associate of the suspect in a quadruple homicide in Tennessee earlier this week has been arrested on suspicion of helping the fugitive, authorities said on Saturday.
Tanaka Brown, 29, was arrested Friday by special agents with the Tennessee Research Office. He has been accused of accessory after the first degree murder, the office said in a statement.
Brown is stopped without bail at Lake County prison, the office said.
He is accused of helping Austin Robert Drummond, 28, who remained large on Saturday night. The authorities have been looking for Drummond in relation to the death of four people on Tuesday in Tiptonville.
The four bodies were discovered after a baby was found abandoned in a car seat in Dyer County, triggering a fight to find the baby’s guardians, Stephen Sutton, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s offices in Lake and Dyer’s counties, at a press conference on Friday.
“The baby is safe and being treated,” Sutton said.
Drummond has been accused of four first -degree murder positions, aggravated kidnapping, possession of a gun during a dangerous crime and possession of a firearm by a convict criminal, according to the US Sheriffs service.
Drummond was on bail when the murders took place, Danny Goodman, District Prosecutor of Dyer and Lake County.
He had been released on bail related to an incident that allegedly took place in prison, where he was fulfilling time for aggravated robbery, said Goodman.
It is not clear if Brown or Drummond have retained legal advice. The public defender’s office for the Judicial District covered by Lake and Dyer counties was not available to provide information on Saturday night.
Drummond is described as armed and dangerous, and anyone who sees him was asked to call 911.
“Putting Austin Drummond in custody is a priority,” said the US Sheriff Service.
Two vehicles associated with Drummond have been found, authorities said. On Saturday there was a 1988 Ford White truck with red side panels in Dyer County, and the authorities are asking anyone with a truck security video that sends it to the Tennessee Research Office.
Drummond’s Audi A3 White 2016 was found abandoned Friday in Jackson, about 74 miles southeast of Tiptonville, the office said.
It is believed that he is still in the Jackson area, the office director, David B. Rausch said Friday.
“This incident has this community to the limit,” Rousch said.
Jackson is about 87 miles northeast of Memphis.
The authorities have previously identified the victims as Matthew Wilson, 21, the father of the abandoned child; Adrianna Williams, 20, the mother; Cortney Rose, 38, the maternal grandmother; and Braydon Williams, 15, the maternal uncle.
The authorities have not said how they died, but have described their death as a result of the murder.
“There is a family relationship between the suspect and the family,” Rousch said.
A relative of the victims said Thursday in a Facebook post that the suspect “has literally been incredible to us and our children.” According to the post, Drummond previously came out in a sister of Rose.
Rausch said the suspect showed a compassion signal, leaving the child, so “there is hope that he can enter and talk about what happened.”
