HUNTINGDON, Tenn. — Jury selection is scheduled to begin today in Carroll County for the attempted murder trial of Austin Drummond, the man also facing capital murder charges in the 2025 killings of four Lake County residents.
The case set for trial in Carroll County stems from an incident that occurred while Drummond was incarcerated at Northwest Correctional Complex in Tiptonville, where he was serving a 13-year sentence for a 2014 aggravated robbery conviction. Drummond faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and introduction of contraband into a penal facility in connection with the incident.
The case was moved to Carroll County after Drummond’s attorneys argued pretrial publicity made it difficult to seat an unbiased jury elsewhere. During a June hearing, defense attorney Drew Farmer filed a renewed motion for a change of venue, raising concern that Madison and Carroll counties share overlapping media coverage. Prosecutors opposed the motion, and Circuit Court Judge Mark Hayes ruled the trial would remain in Carroll County, provided a jury free of outside influence could be seated.
“If we can select a jury that is not tainted by assumptions and exposure to facts or to stories then we’ll be fine, but if not we’ll move somewhere else,” Hayes said during the June hearing.
Hayes also granted a motion allowing Drummond to wear non-visible restraints during the trial.
Drummond is separately charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Cortney Rose, 38, Adrianna Williams, 20, Braydon Williams, 15, and James “Matthew” Wilson, 21, who were found dead in Lake County in July 2025. That case remains in earlier stages, with attorneys not expecting a trial before 2027. Drummond has pleaded not guilty, and prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty.