“Armed and dangerous” suspect in 4 murder cases taken into custody after manhunt

OKLAHOMA CITY – A man linked to several murders in Oklahoma and Alabama was arrested Thursday after a nearly two-day manhunt, authorities said.

Stacy Lee Drake, 50, was arrested without incident around 10 a.m. in a wooded area south of an intersection in Morrilton, Arkansas, according to the Arkansas Department of Public Safety. He was wanted in connection with the killings of three people in Oklahoma and a fourth in Alabama, authorities said.

“Drake is wanted in connection with murders and auto thefts in Oklahoma and is wanted on additional warrants from multiple jurisdictions. Charges against him include aggravated robbery, auto theft and murder,” the Arkansas Department of Public Safety said in a press release.

The Arkansas Department of Public Safety had urged residents in the Morrilton area, about 50 miles northwest of Little Rock, to be cautious after he was spotted outside a motel in town. Before his arrest, authorities said Wednesday that Drake had purchased camping equipment that suggested he was still in the area.

Drake, who has an extensive criminal history, has been described by law enforcement as armed and dangerous.

“When you look at his criminal history, it’s clear that his violent behavior has been steadily increasing,” Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Captain Jack Kennedy said at a news conference Thursday. “He is now responsible for at least three, possibly four murders in the last two months that we know of. So it wouldn’t surprise me if there are additional murders that are unsolved in other jurisdictions.”

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Suspect in connection with at least three murders in Oklahoma and one in Alabama

On Tuesday, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation was asked to assist in the homicide investigation in Gans, a city in Sequoyah County near the Oklahoma-Arkansas border. The agency said Sequoyah County Sheriff’s officials responded to a report of two people dead around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

When officers arrived at the scene, they found an adult man and an adult woman dead inside a propane plant, according to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

The man and woman, identified as Taylor Sharp and Tara Underwood, were shot, the agency said in a court affidavit. Sharp and Underwood were employees of LaFerry’s Propane.

Authorities identified Drake as a suspect after reviewing surveillance video. The video showed him driving away in Underwood’s 2016 GMC Acadia after leaving the store, according to the affidavit. The vehicle was later found in Morrilton late Tuesday night.

Drake is also suspected of killing a man in El Reno, a city west of Oklahoma City. Shortly after his arrest Thursday, El Reno police confirmed to local television station KOCO 5 that Drake had been identified as a suspect in a June 14 murder.

The man, identified as 56-year-old Phillip Emerson, was found dead inside a home and his vehicle was believed to have been stolen by the suspect, according to KOCO 5.

In Alabama, Kennedy said, Drake is suspected of killing 62-year-old Alcoholics Anonymous counselor Russell Andrews on or about May 14. Police were called to the Alcoholics Anonymous club in downtown Tuscaloosa after Andrews was found dead in the building.

Surveillance video showed Andrews’ vehicle missing from the scene and presumed stolen by the suspect, Kennedy said. The vehicle was found several hours later near the Oklahoma-Arkansas border.

Who is Stacy Lee Drake?

Authorities had previously said Drake was from Birmingham, Alabama, but Kennedy stressed on Thursday that the suspect was not from that state.

“(Drake) was arrested once in Alabama 15 years ago … for several, numerous serious violent crimes,” Kennedy said, adding that Drake was linked to an address in Birmingham that “may have been related to his being in a homeless shelter there.”

Drake has only been in Tuscaloosa for about a week or two, Kennedy said. He described Drake as a “transient” who has no fixed address and a long criminal history in several states.

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