Tiptonville residents reassured after latest arrests, but still want justice in quadruple homicide
TIPTONVILLE, Tenn. (WMC) - In Tiptonville, where four relatives were found murdered on July 29, residents said they are feeling reassured following two arrests over the weekend and a third Monday by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Nearly a week ago, residents said their small town was turned upside down when four bodies were found in a wooded area off Carrington Road near Reelfoot Lake.
“Especially the people that live out there close to where they [the victims] were,” said Johnny Warren, a Tiptonville resident. “To know that something like that happened right there, having something like that happen close to where you live, it’s got to be terrifying.”
Warren said the situation has left the community on edge and scared. He also said it’s pushed many residents to take extra steps to protect themselves until the suspect, Austin Drummond, is caught.
“For a while, while he was still around here, I was packing mine just to make sure he stayed away from my family,” said Warren.
Warren lives just around the corner from the Lake County Courthouse, where Judge Andrew Cook discussed two of the three suspects now facing charges for helping Drummond on Monday morning.
Dearrah Sanders, 23, the latest arrest, is charged with accessory after the fact for first-degree murder. 29-year-old Tanaka Brown is facing the same charge along with an additional charge for tampering with evidence.
Another individual charged, 29-year-old Giovonti Thomas, will be in court this Thursday. All three individuals are from Jackson, Tennessee, where Drummond has ties.
Warren said that while the arrests are reassuring, he said the community keeps thinking about what they want to see happen to Drummond.
“Oh, I hope he fights back. You know, cops need some target practice,” said Warren. “If he thinks he’s high enough that he can decide who can live and die, then maybe he needs to go talk to the one that really does have that effect.”
The judge is giving Sanders until Thursday to hire an attorney; if she does not, then she will have a source hearing on August 14. That is also the same day Brown is having a source hearing.
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