Wanted Ky. man accused of killing 2 family members, injuring a 3rd, in custody

PULASKI COUNTY, Ky. (KFVS) - The search is over for a Kentucky man accused of killing two family members and injuring a third.

Austin Prather, 20, wanted in connection with the investigation, was taken into custody Wednesday in Indiana.

The Pulaski County sheriff said an arrest warrant for Prather charges him with two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Prather was considered armed and dangerous.

According to the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, authorities responded to a call of a shooting victim on Raleigh Road in Science Hill, Kentucky around 11:47 p.m. on Tuesday, November 7.

When they arrived, they found 67-year-old Ardyth “Ray” Prather, Jr. dead from apparent gunshot wounds. Prather’s wife, 65-year-old Joann Prather, had been shot and stabbed but was still alive.

Joann Prather was treated at the scene and then airlifted to a Lexington, Ky. hospital. Deputies say her condition is unknown, as of Wednesday night.

Officers say they found blood on the door of a neighboring home on Raleigh Road. When they entered the home because of the possibility of other victims, they found a man, later identified as 43-year-old Ardyth “Trae” Prather III, dead inside the home.

According to the sheriff’s office, the son and grandson of the victims, Austin Prather, is believed to be the suspect. They say he fled the scene in a 2013 brown Jeep Wrangler before police arrived.

The Major Crimes Task Force, consisting of the Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, the Somerset Police Department and the Kentucky State Police, responded to the scene.

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