Jackson County State’s Attorney Mike Wepsiec said Tuesday that he may pursue the death penalty against the Carbondale man charged in the murder of a Unity Point Elementary School teacher.

Ellen Drake’s body was found in her Carbondale home by a relative early Sunday morning. A phone call traced to a cellular phone taken from her home led police to Gary E. Lee, 30, of Carbondale, who was driving Drake’s 1998 Toyota Camry when he was apprehended.

An autopsy Sunday concluded that Drake died late Friday or early Saturday of multiple stab wounds.

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Lee, who spent almost two years in Menard Correctional Center for aggravated robbery, was arrested Sunday in Memphis, Tenn., for the alleged stabbing murder of Drake and burglary of her home.

Wepsiec said that he expects Lee to be returned to Jackson County sometime this week. No court dates will be set until he is returned.

On Tuesday, Wepsiec filed an eight-count amended information charging Lee with five counts of first-degree murder, one count of robbery, one count of residential burglary and one count of theft over $10,000.

Wepsiec said Lee is eligible for the death penalty under Illinois law because two of the murder counts charge Lee with felony murder, based on the forcible felonies of robbery and residential burglary.

He also said the other three murder counts Lee is charged with are based on varying theories of first-degree murder as permitted by the statute.

“The sheriff’s department and I want this case to be as solid as is humanly possible,” Wepsiec said. “The only way to do this is through continued investigative police work.”

Wepsiec and Jackson County Sheriff Bill Kilquist are not making any statements regarding the nature of presumed prior contact, the murder weapon, witnesses or the last time Drake was seen alive.

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Kilquist said he could not comment on any statement that Lee may have made to two detectives who went to Memphis to talk with him late Monday afternoon.

The three people who were with Lee when he was arrested in Memphis have been released without charge.

Wepsiec said the sheriff’s department is still working to recover all of the evidence and identify and interview witnesses.

“Sheriff Bill Kilquist, his staff and all other cooperating police agencies have handled the case with professionalism and the highest quality of work,” Drake’s family said in a prepared statement. “Without the outstanding performance shown by the Sheriff’s Office, this quick apprehension would have never been possible.”