Two Charged With Helping Suspect Evade Capture After Tennessee Quadruple Homicide
Grand jury indicts two on accessory-after-the-fact charges as authorities continue prosecution of man accused of killing four relatives and abandoning an infant
Two people have been indicted on charges of helping a Tennessee man evade authorities after he was accused of fatally shooting four relatives in late July, the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said Wednesday.
Eric Wise Jr., 26, and Michell Ovelis, 31, were indicted Tuesday by a grand jury on accessory-after-the-fact charges and were booked into the Madison County Jail, the TBI said in a news release. The agency did not disclose how investigators believe the pair assisted Austin Robert Drummond as authorities searched for him.
Drummond, 32, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of the parents, grandmother and uncle of an infant who was found abandoned in a home's front yard, prosecutors said previously. Law enforcement officials carried out a weeklong search for Drummond that ended Aug. 5 in Jackson, about 70 miles southeast of Tiptonville where the killings occurred.
Online jail records reviewed Wednesday did not show booking details for Wise or Ovelis, and a court clerk said records did not indicate whether either had retained attorneys. The TBI did not release additional information about the alleged assistance or any evidence linking the indicted individuals to the killings.
Local prosecutors have announced they plan to seek the death penalty if Drummond is convicted of first-degree murder at trial. Officials said Drummond's preliminary hearing is pending. The decision to pursue capital punishment places the case within the broader realm of prosecutorial discretion and state criminal justice policy.
The indictments come as investigators continue to compile evidence in a case that drew intense local scrutiny after the discovery of the infant and the subsequent death of four family members. Authorities have prosecuted accessories after the fact when they allege individuals intentionally helped suspects avoid arrest, but officials in this case have not specified the actions that prompted the recent charges against Wise and Ovelis.
The TBI handled the investigation in coordination with local law enforcement agencies. Additional court proceedings, including arraignment dates and any potential motions related to the accessory charges, were not immediately available. Defense attorneys or public defenders for Wise and Ovelis had not publicly commented on the indictments as of Wednesday.