Austin Drummond claims he was a confidential informant working against victims he’s accused of killing

Austin Drummond claims he was a confidential informant working against victims he’s accused of killing

JACKSON, Tenn. (WBBJ) - Austin Drummond, charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the 2025 deaths of four Lake County residents, is making new claims in a series of pro se court filings. Drummond alleges he was working as a confidential informant for federal and state law enforcement at the time of the killings and that the victims were suspects in that same investigation.

The state is seeking the death penalty.

The informant claim

In a motion to disqualify the 29th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Drummond claims he began working as a confidential informant in April 2025 following a meeting with Assistant District Attorney Andrew Hays, ATF agents, FBI agents, and a TDOC narcotics investigator.

Drummond includes what he says is a letter from ADA Hays dated April 28, 2025, addressed to his then-attorney Drew Farmer. The letter states the DA’s office “will not prosecute Mr. Drummond for his statements made to investigators last week, the cocaine he disclosed possessing, or any other crimes he commits or may commit while working with federal and/or state law enforcement agents or under their direction.”

An email included as an exhibit, purportedly from Hays to another district attorney, describes Drummond as someone who “provided the most information I’ve ever heard from a defendant” and had “the ability, rank, and trust within the gang to really blow a lid off the prison narcotics trade.”

Drummond claims his cover was blown before the murders and that he was subsequently charged. WBBJ has not independently verified the authenticity of those documents.

DA accused of misleading media

Drummond’s motion also accuses District Attorney Danny Goodman Jr. of making false and misleading statements to media outlets following his August 2025 arrest.

Drummond points to a FOX13 report in which Goodman said his office had asked for Drummond’s bond to be raised before the murders. Drummond argues the opposite is true, that Goodman’s office withdrew its motion to revoke his bond so he could continue working as an informant.

He also highlights a contradiction between Goodman’s public statement that “there is a clear motive in this case” and the state’s own court filing, which lists as an aggravating factor that “the murder was committed at random and the reasons for the killing are not obvious or easily understood.”

Drummond argues those statements violate Tennessee Supreme Court Rules of Professional Conduct and constitute grounds for disqualifying Goodman and his entire office from the case.

In response to a request for comment, Goodman said: “Mr. Drummond is still represented by an attorney, therefore his pro se motions should not be heard.”

Judge denies self-representation bids

Judge Mark L. Hayes has denied Drummond’s attempts to represent himself on two separate occasions.

Drummond filed his original motion to waive counsel on April 21, 2026. Following a May 15 hearing, Judge Hayes ruled on May 21 that Drummond’s waiver was not “knowing, intelligent, or unequivocal” and appeared to be “a thinly veiled attempt at manipulation.” The court noted Drummond had refused to cooperate with a court-ordered mental health evaluation and filed 11 pro se motions on the morning of the hearing alone.

Drummond filed a motion to reconsider on June 5, citing case law references and arguing the court’s reasoning was legally flawed. Judge Hayes denied that motion on June 15, writing that Drummond had not shown “an intervening change in the law or verified facts” and that his conduct remained “consistent with other evidence before the Court regarding his attempted manipulation of the proceedings.”

Drummond is represented by Bryan Huffman of Huffman Mason in Covington and Claiborne Ferguson of Ferguson McNeil in Memphis, both specially qualified under Tennessee Supreme Court rules for capital cases.

Motion to expand gag order

In a July 2, 2026 filing, Drummond asks the court to add a man named Burton Staggs to what he describes in his filing as an existing gag order in the case. Drummond alleges Staggs, who has a combined social media following of more than 200,000 across multiple accounts, made posts claiming to have been present when the victims’ remains were moved, referenced autopsy findings, and called Drummond a “psychopath.” Drummond argues those posts pose “a substantial likelihood of prejudicing a fair trial.”

A private investigator named Heather Cohen was previously added to the order after the state argued her social media posts, based on text messages from Drummond’s iCloud account, could taint the jury pool. Cohen had approximately 18,000 followers at the time of that order.

Background

Drummond faces four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Adriana Williams, James Matthew Wilson, Cortney Rose, and teenager Braydon Williams. Their bodies were discovered July 29, 2025, in Lake County. That same day, an infant related to the victims was found abandoned but safe in a car seat in a stranger’s front yard in Dyer County.

Drummond remains held at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution.

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