A transient facing murder charges in Alabama and Oklahoma showed a pattern of escalating violence and could be responsible for more killings, authorities said Thursday.

Stacy Lee Drake, 50-year-old former Jimmie Hale Mission resident in Birmingham, was taken into custody Thursday morning following a two-state manhunt.

Authorities said he is the suspect in three Oklahoma homicides and is charged in the May slaying of another man at a Tuscaloosa AA building last month.

“It would not be surprising to me at all,” Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit Capt. Jack Kennedy said Thursday afternoon. “If you look at his criminal history, he was continuously escalating his violent behavior.”

“He is now responsible for at least three, possibly four, homicides that we know about in the last two months so I would not be surprised if there’s other homicides out there that are unsolved in other jurisdictions,’’ Kennedy said.

Drake allegedly travelled to multiple states with no fixed address, using false names, and altering his appearance.

“We do not know if he is responsible for any other homicides but that is being looked into,’’ he said. “There are a few other things that have come to light, and we are working with a few other jurisdictions on that as well.”

Asked if Drake is a suspected serial killer, Kennedy said, “I don’t know if there is an official designator for that, but it does appear at a minimum he’s killed three, possibly four, in the past two months.”

In Alabama, Drake is charged with murder in the May 14 slaying of 62-year-old Russell Thomas “Rusty” Andrews.

He was taken captured about 10 a.m. Thursday in a wooded area south of the intersection of University Boulevard and Poor Farm Road in Morrilton, Arkansas.

Andrews’ son, Russell Andrews, said he’s relieved he doesn’t have to worry about the suspect “tearing any more families apart.”

“I’m glad he’s finally going to face his consequences,’’ he said. “My heart goes out to all of the families affected.”

“I can’t thank the Conway County Sheriff’s Office, the Morrilton Police Department, Arkansas State Police, Jack Kennedy and the violent crimes unit enough for all their hard work,’’ Russell Andrews said.

Kennedy released new information about Andrews’ slaying Thursday and confirmed that the longtime Alcoholics Anonymous volunteer was fatally shot.

Andrews was found slain that Tuesday inside the AA building on Jack Warner Parkway. His vehicle was missing when he was discovered.

Investigators learned that Andrews was last seen talking to a man – now identified as Drake.

“He stayed behind talking with this gentleman after everyone left,’’ Kennedy said. “Nobody knows what the motive is, but (those who police spoke with at AA) all said he would have given him his car and his money if he had just asked for it.”

Kennedy said investigators started with little to no information.

“We did not know who he had been with or the exact time this occurred,’’ he said. “We rapidly learned the suspect was a newly arrived transient or traveler that had only been in Tuscaloosa a week or possibly two.”

Detectives put out a request for information – releasing a description and possible nickname for the suspect, which turned out to be a false name.

Through the use of multiple investigative tools and techniques, they identified Drake as the potential suspect. “Multiple people who had been associated with him that week picked him out of lineups,’’ Kennedy said.

The murder warrant was then secured.

Andrews’ stolen vehicle was later located around the border of Oklahoma and Arkansas.

“He was definitely outside of Tuscaloosa County,’’ Kennedy said, and the U.S. Marshal’s fugitive task for was brought in to lead the hunt.

“He was using a false name and dressing himself differently, using glasses and hats,’’ Kennedy said, “which starts to make sense now that we know about his past and what he’s done since then.”

Lookout bulletins were issued to law enforcement agencies nationwide, but investigators did not publicly release the suspect’s identity.

“It was reasonable to believe that he did not know he had been identified by us,’’ Kennedy said. “We thought that would aid in us capturing him – the fact that he would believe he had gotten away with it.”

Three people were killed this week in Oklahoma – one victim in El Reno, and the other two in Gans. Those locations are about three hours apart.

On Tuesday, the Sequoyah County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma and the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation responded to a double homicide in Gans.

Deputies about 6:30 p.m. responded to a business near State Highway 64 and South 4670 Road. When they arrived, they found a man and woman dead inside a business.

Both had injuries consistent with homicide, state authorities said, but did not elaborate.

Details of the third homicide in El Reno weren’t immediately available but OSBI said three people were killed during two separate carjackings.

Drake is separately wanted on multiple felony warrants from multiple jurisdictions, with charges including aggravated robbery, carjacking, and murder, authorities said.

The vehicle Drake reportedly took during one of the Oklahoma crimes was found late Tuesday night parked at a hotel in Morrilton, Arkansas.

Morrilton police said Wednesday that Drake was seen on video in the hotel’s parking lot. The hotel was searched but Drake was not located.

Arkansas State Police said Wednesday night that Drake was last known to have purchased camping gear and all indications are he is still in the Morrilton area.

Drake has committed crimes in Alabama before. In 2010 he was arrested and later indicted for numerous crimes in Pickens County.

Drake was convicted in the Feb. 21, 2010, carjacking of a 1993 GMC Sonoma. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison but placed on supervised release.

That supervised release was revoked in 2019, and Drake was revoked in 2019 and he was ordered in 2021 to serve 10 months with credit for time served..

He pleaded guilty in 2022 to first-degree robbery in Dale County, and received a 120-month suspended sentence.

Kennedy said Drake still has an outstanding federal charge.

“It appears he was traveling the country utilizing false names in an attempt to keep from being incarcerated,’’ he said. “What led him to become a person that violently assaults and murders people, I do not know.”

Kennedy said roughly 50 investigators have worked on Andrews’ case, and said it was a 24-7 probe.

“We are confident he is responsible for Mr. Andrews’ murder here in Tuscaloosa,’’ he said. . We never quit working on that case.

Said 50 different people working 24 hours a day to identify him.

“When it all works the way it’s supposed to work, it’s very reassuring to me,’’ Kennedy said.

“We can’t bring Mr. Andrews back but we can make good cases against this guy so he doesn’t get out and victimize anyone else.”