Authorities announced on Thursday that they have apprehended a man who had been the subject of a nearly two-day manhunt and was suspected of committing multiple homicides in Oklahoma and Alabama.
According to the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, authorities took 50-year-old Stacy Lee Drake into custody at approximately 10 a.m. in a wooded area located south of an intersection in Morrilton, Arkansas. Drake was apprehended without incident and was wanted in connection with the murders of three individuals in Oklahoma and a fourth in Alabama.
According to a recent press release by the Arkansas Department of Public Safety, Drake is currently being sought for his involvement in several homicides and carjackings in Oklahoma, as well as a number of other felony warrants from various jurisdictions. The charges against him include aggravated robbery, carjacking, and murder.
Residents in the Morrilton area, which is located around 50 miles northwest of Little Rock, were given a warning by the Arkansas Department of Public Safety to be on high alert after spotting the suspect, Drake, outside a local motel in the city. Authorities shared that Drake was believed to have purchased camping equipment, signaling that he was still in the vicinity. However, Drake has since been apprehended.
Law enforcement officials have described Drake as armed and dangerous, given his extensive criminal history.
During a news conference on Thursday, Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Capt. Jack Kennedy stated that upon examining the suspect’s criminal history, it was evident that he had a pattern of escalating violent behavior. The suspect is believed to be responsible for at least three, possibly four homicides in the past two months alone. Sheriff Kennedy speculated that there may be other unsolved homicides in other jurisdictions that could be linked to the suspect.
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Suspect tied to at least 3 killings in Oklahoma, 1 in Alabama
The Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office deputies responded to a report regarding two deceased individuals in Gans, a town in Sequoyah County near the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line, on Tuesday at around 6:30 p.m. The Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was requested to aid in the homicide investigation.
According to a court affidavit, Taylor Sharp and Tara Underwood, who were employees of LaFerry’s Propane, were found shot to death. The victims have been identified as the man and woman in question.
Upon reviewing the surveillance footage, authorities identified Drake as a person of interest. The video clearly depicted him exiting the business and driving off in Underwood’s 2016 GMC Acadia. The affidavit stated that the vehicle was discovered later that night in Morrilton.
It has been speculated that Drake may have been involved in a homicide that took place in El Reno, a city located just west of Oklahoma City. According to reports from the El Reno Police Department, Drake was identified as a suspect in the alleged murder that occurred on June 14. This information was confirmed to a local TV station, KOCO 5, shortly after Drake’s arrest on Thursday.
According to KOCO 5, the suspect stole the vehicle of Phillip Emerson, a 56-year-old man who was found deceased in his home.
According to Kennedy, Drake is believed to have committed the murder of Alcoholics Anonymous counselor Russell Andrews, who was 62 years old at the time, around May 14th in Alabama. The incident was reported after Andrews was found deceased inside the Alcoholics Anonymous Club located in downtown Tuscaloosa, prompting police to respond to the scene.
Kennedy reported that the suspect was caught on surveillance video driving away in Andrew’s vehicle, indicating that it had been stolen. Hours later, the vehicle was found abandoned near the border of Oklahoma and Arkansas.
Who is Stacy Lee Drake?
During the recent developments, it was revealed by Kennedy that the suspect, Drake, did not belong to the state of Alabama, contrary to the previous statement that he hailed from Birmingham, Alabama.
According to Kennedy, 15 years ago, Drake had been arrested in Alabama for numerous violent felony crimes. He also stated that Drake was connected to a Birmingham address that could have been the reason for his stay at a homeless shelter in the area.
According to Kennedy, Drake was a “transient” with no permanent address and a lengthy criminal record across various states. He had only been in Tuscaloosa for a week or two.
According to Kennedy, the background investigations reveal that Drake had spent a considerable amount of time in Oklahoma and Arizona. Furthermore, Drake had been a federal inmate at various times in his career, with pending federal charges against him for violating his parole.
According to Kennedy, during his time in Tuscaloosa, the suspect was using a fake name and altering his appearance by wearing hats and glasses. It seems that he was adopting this lifestyle across the country and using different aliases to avoid getting caught and being sent to prison.
