A welfare check in Wilmer became a capital murder case involving a mother, two children and an unborn baby.
MOBILE, Ala. — Concern over late-night phone activity led relatives to a Wilmer home where a pregnant teen, her mother and her younger brother were found bound and killed, authorities said.
The discovery on April 20 set off a Mobile County homicide investigation that ended eight days later with the arrest of William Graham Oliver, 54. The victims were identified as Lisa Gail Fields, 46; Fields’ daughter, Keziah Arionna Luker, 17; and Fields’ son, Thomas Cordelle Jr., 12. Luker was about eight months pregnant. Her unborn child also died, and authorities later described the case as a quadruple homicide.
Luker’s partner was working offshore when he became worried that he could not reach her, Sheriff Paul Burch said. He noticed activity tied to her phone or location app and thought something could be wrong, including with the pregnancy. He contacted a family member and asked for a check at the house on Auble Moody Road. That person entered the home about 2:30 a.m. and found Fields, Luker and Thomas dead in different rooms. “A brutal scene” is how Burch described what deputies found after they were called. An 18-month-old girl, Luker’s child, was also inside the home and was not hurt.
For investigators, the welfare check quickly became a timeline problem. Deputies had to work backward from the 2:30 a.m. discovery to the prior evening, when Burch said Oliver had been at the home around 7:30 p.m. The sheriff said investigators found a “very, very tight timeline” and strong circumstantial evidence connecting Oliver to the killings. They also found reason to believe the home was not randomly chosen. Oliver knew the family “for quite some time,” Burch said, and authorities believe he was inside the house looking for something. They have not disclosed what that was.
The layout of the scene added to the early uncertainty. All three victims had their hands bound behind their backs with zip ties or flex cuffs, authorities said. The victims were not found together. Fields had been stabbed and had her throat cut. Luker had been shot. Thomas’ throat had been cut. The different methods of killing and the use of restraints led investigators to first say they were looking at the possibility of more than one attacker. After Oliver was arrested, Burch said investigators believed one person carried out the killings. He said the evidence recovered after the arrest supported that conclusion, though he did not give a full list of items seized.
The charges filed against Oliver reflect both the number of victims and the circumstances prosecutors say surrounded the killings. He is charged with capital murder of two or more people, capital murder during a burglary, capital murder involving a child younger than 14 and capital murder in the presence of a child. Local reports said two of the eight counts concern Luker’s unborn child. Burch said the presence of children weighed heavily on the office. “Anytime there are children involved, it makes it a little tougher and especially an unborn child,” he said.
Deputies arrested Oliver on April 28 after executing a search warrant at his home in Wilmer, about 11 miles from the victims’ house, according to local reporting. He was taken into custody during a traffic stop, and investigators searched his property. Authorities said they recovered a vehicle and other evidence that helped tie him to the crime. Burch said investigators had identified a motive, but he would not discuss it publicly. He said releasing that information could affect the prosecution. The sheriff also said Oliver’s criminal history included earlier arrests but that the capital murder charges were his first violent charges.
The case left two kinds of silence in the community: one inside the home, where a toddler survived among the dead, and another outside it, where family members waited for answers. Relatives remembered Fields as a mother who gave much of herself to others. Luker was described as outgoing, loving and excited to welcome another baby girl. Thomas was remembered as a fifth grader who liked games, music and math. Their obituaries focused on family bonds and everyday details rather than the manner of death. Those accounts now stand beside the criminal allegations that prosecutors will have to prove in court.
Investigators have not publicly said whether the surviving child provided any evidence, whether any door was forced open or whether security cameras, phone records or forensic testing placed Oliver inside the house at the time of the killings. Burch has said the case is built on strong circumstantial evidence. He has also said the home was in disarray, which supports the theory that someone was searching the house. No public statement has identified a second suspect, and the sheriff’s office has moved away from its early belief that several people may have been involved.
The next stage belongs to prosecutors and the court system. Capital murder cases in Alabama often move through early hearings, evidence motions and decisions about whether prosecutors will seek the death penalty. Authorities had not announced those next decisions as of May 10. Oliver is presumed innocent unless proven guilty. The sheriff’s office said investigators continue to protect details of the alleged motive while the case is pending.
Author note: Last updated May 10, 2026.