EATONTON, Ga. – A man accused in the strangulation-drowning death of a former arts director in Eatonton earlier this month has a long criminal history that spans three states, The Union-Recorder has learned.

The suspect in the murder of Lydia Huggins Ivanditti is Frank Don Causey, 26, of Eatonton, local and state authorities say. Ivanditti was found in the bathroom of her W. Walnut Street home in Eatonton on Dec. 2 by her elderly mother, who alerted local authorities.

Joe Wooten, special agent-in-charge of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Region 6 Office in Milledgeville, issued a press release last week that identified the suspect, who has been charged with murder.

Causey is being held in the Putnam County Jail in Eatonton pending a hearing before a Superior Court judge who will decide whether or not to grant bond.

The suspect appeared briefly last Wednesday afternoon before Putnam County Chief Magistrate Ellen I. Pierce.

Putnam County Sheriff Howard Sills, whose office was not directly involved in the murder investigation, but who attended the hearing, said it didn’t last long.

“It lasted only a few minutes,” Sheriff Sills said in a telephone interview.

Sills said the judge told Causey that she couldn’t set a bond in his case since he is charged with murder. Pierce told the suspect that the only person who could set bond in a murder case in Georgia is a Superior Court judge.

Causey already has applied for legal representation from the Ocmulgee Judicial Circuit Public Defender’s Office.

Causey was taken into custody during the noon hour last Tuesday for questioning about the murder.

He underwent a lengthy interview at the Putnam County Jail by GBI special agents and investigators with the Eatonton Police Department and was charged with Ivanditti’s murder several hours later.

The victim, whom authorities said was strangled and drowned, had served as director of The Plaza Arts Center in Eatonton from 2008-2012.

The man now accused of Ivanditti’s death has been described by authorities as an “acquaintance.”

Causey, a native of Memphis, Tenn., has been living off and on in Eatonton for the past several years, Wooten said in the press release.

Wooten and Eatonton Police Chief Kent Lawrence have declined interviews from media representatives about the case.

Local and state authorities have not revealed what actually led them to arrest Causey for the murder or what evidence they have against him.

The 26-year-old murder suspect has a long criminal history in three states – Georgia, Tennessee and Louisiana, according to jail and court records.

Prior to being charged with murder last week by local and state authorities, Causey had been arrested four times by Eatonton police, records show.

Three of those four times happened in 2013.

Causey was arrested May 24, 2013 on charges of obstruction of a law enforcement officer, giving false information and a false name to a law enforcement officer, driving while license suspended, and having an expired tag.

Those charges were filed by a trooper with the Georgia State Patrol out of the Madison post, but went through the Eatonton Police Department since the traffic stop was made in the city limits.

Causey was arrested two other times in 2013 by police officers in Eatonton, records show.

On Aug. 7, 2013, he was charged with driving while unlicensed. On Sept. 11, 2013, he was arrested for cruelty to children, criminal trespass and simple battery.

Causey later was arrested on a probation warrant by deputies with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office for the Sept. 11, 2013 charges and subsequently was sentenced to 22 months.

On Sept. 29, 2014, Causey was arrested by Eatonton police for driving while unlicensed.

On Oct. 13, 2015, Causey was arrested by deputies with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office on a probation warrant and sentenced to 60 days.

Earlier this year, Causey was arrested by officers with the Gray Police Department for driving while unlicensed.

On Nov. 20, 2016, he was arrested on a probation warrant by deputies with the Jones County Sheriff’s Office in Gray in reference to the traffic charge in Gray.

In Louisiana, meanwhile, Causey was arrested and charged with felony theft and identity theft by the Baton Rouge Police Department on Jan. 13, 2011, records show.

In the Louisiana cases, Causey used the alias Rico Brown, as well as a phony birthdate.

In Tennessee, Causey has long criminal past with the Memphis Police Department, as well as the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, records reveal.

Causey was first arrested July 15, 2008 by deputies with the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office for theft of property, forgery and identity theft.

It wasn’t until March 23, 2010 that Causey was arrested by Memphis police. The charges included possession of a controlled substance, disorderly conduct and criminal trespass.

He was arrested again Jan. 1, 2011 by Memphis police for driving with a suspended license and violation of a financial law.

Causey later was arrested May 15, 2011 by Memphis police on charges of forgery and theft.

On April 23, 2012, Causey was arrested by the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and charged with domestic assault and bodily harm, records show.

Then on March 17, 2016, Causey again was arrested by Shelby County Sheriff’s Office deputies on a probation warrant.