CARROLL COUNTY, Tenn. — Austin Drummond is asking a judge to throw out his conviction in the prison stabbing case or grant him a new trial.
In a renewed motion filed Oct. 7 in Carroll County Circuit Court, Drummond’s attorneys argue that a series of errors tainted the trial, in which a jury found him guilty of attempted voluntary manslaughter and possession of a weapon in a penal facility. He had been charged with attempted murder.
The defense contends the court wrongly told jurors that Drummond had a duty to retreat and refused to give a requested instruction on necessity. The motion also challenges Drummond’s transfer to state prison custody before he was convicted, the denial of a change of venue, the decision not to sequester the jury, and limits placed on cross-examination and on a defense witness.
The case stems from a 2023 fight at Northwest Correctional Complex. The victim testified he was stabbed 17 times. Prosecutors, relying on prison security video, said Drummond and co-defendant Andre Brown attacked without provocation, and argued the number of wounds was inconsistent with self-defense. Drummond maintained he feared for his life.
Judge Mark Hayes sentenced Drummond as a Range 2 offender to nine years on each count, to be served concurrently.
The motion does not affect the Lake County case, in which Drummond is charged with killing James Wilson, 21; Adrianna Williams, 20; Braydon Williams, 15; and Cortney Rose, 38, in July 2025. That investigation began after Wilson and Adrianna Williams’ infant was found abandoned in a Dyer County yard. Drummond was arrested in Jackson on Aug. 5, 2025, after a weeklong manhunt.
No trial date has been set.