NewsRegionOakland County

Actions

Suspect in quadruple murder had prior assault case against him dropped

Posted at 5:48 PM, Aug 17, 2020
and last updated 2020-08-17 18:24:53-04

SUMPTER TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — When they were together, Raymond Lee Bailey and Laura Tanner had a rocky relationship. Raymond had been accused of assaulting Laura last fall. He was charged with Assault with Intent to do Great Bodily Harm and Domestic Violence Assault. But by January, the charges against him had been dismissed.

RELATED: Man wanted in quadruple homicide in Sumpter Township turns himself in

Sources in law enforcement tell 7 Action News that the charges were dismissed when Laura was a no-show in court on both cases.

Then Saturday afternoon, a 911 call was made from someone at Laura's home on Martinsville Road.

Sumpter Township Police not ready to say if one of the victims managed to make the 911 call or if it was Raymond himself. But when officers arrived, they found Laura and her sister, Sarah Tanner, dead. Their first cousins, Neil Sampson and Forrest Sampson, had also been shot and killed. Neil and Forrest were brothers.

Laura and Sarah's father, Brad Tanner, is the brother of Renee Sampson who is mom to Neil and Forrest, according to a family friend.

Shortly after the killings, police began to zero in on Raymond Bailey as the suspect, and detectives were on their way to look for him in Bay City Sunday when they received word that he walked into the Bay County Sheriff's Office and turned himself in.

Raymond Bailey is currently jailed in Huron Township and he could be charged and arraigned on murder charges as early as Tuesday.

Loved ones of the victims have set up a GoFundMe page to help cover the costs of their four funerals.