A five-week trail of alleged killings stretched from an Alcoholics Anonymous building in Alabama to rural Oklahoma before Stacy Lee Drake was captured hiding in an Arkansas woods. The case now spans five deaths, multiple stolen vehicles, and a still-pending Oklahoma prosecution.
Drake appeared for a status hearing Thursday in Sequoyah County, according to KHBS. He is charged in three Oklahoma deaths and remains a suspect, rather than a charged defendant, in two Alabama killings.
The Timeline Starts In Tuscaloosa
On May 14, 2024, 62-year-old Russell Thomas Andrews was found dead inside an Alcoholics Anonymous building in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His vehicle was missing, and authorities later said Drake was suspected in the killing and believed to have taken the car, as reported by The Associated Press.
The following day, Quandarius Young was found dead inside an abandoned building in Fairfield, Alabama. During a 2025 preliminary hearing, an investigator testified that a handgun recovered from Drake’s Arkansas campsite belonged to Young; KHBS reported that Drake was listed as a suspect in Young’s death but had not been charged.
Three Oklahoma Deaths Followed
On June 14, 2024, 56-year-old Phillip Emerson was found dead inside his El Reno home, and his vehicle was missing. El Reno police said Emerson suffered a gunshot wound and identified Drake as a person of interest, according to KOCO.
Four days later, Tara Barnett Underwood and Taylor Sharp were found shot inside LaFerry’s Propane near Gans, Oklahoma. Underwood had three children, while Sharp worked as a delivery driver, and KHBS reported that both were killed while working at the business.
Investigators soon connected Drake to the Gans killings through surveillance images and vehicle evidence, while authorities in El Reno pursued the Emerson case. Drake was later charged with first-degree murder in Emerson’s death, according to 2 News Oklahoma.
The Manhunt Ends In An Arkansas Woods
As the investigation widened, one of the vehicles linked to Drake was located near a Motel 6 in Morrilton, Arkansas. Police issued alerts, released surveillance images, and searched the area after reports that Drake had been buying camping supplies.
On June 20, 2024, Arkansas State Police and Morrilton officers found Drake in a hammock in the woods roughly a half-mile from the motel. The Associated Press reported that he was taken into custody without incident and that investigators recovered a disassembled firearm at his campsite.
The Oklahoma Case Is Still Pending
An Oklahoma judge ruled in May 2025 that prosecutors had presented enough evidence for Drake to stand trial in the Sequoyah County killings. He has pleaded not guilty to the Oklahoma charges, and a local report based on district court records said the triple-murder trial was scheduled for February 2027.
Thursday’s status hearing was another step in a case that has crossed state lines from Alabama to Oklahoma and ended with an arrest in Arkansas. Drake remains presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court, and the Alabama deaths remain separate investigations from the Oklahoma prosecution.
