Judge: Michael Cummins can face death penalty in one of … – Tennessean
- Michael Cummins, 29, faces trial in April after a string of killings left eight people dead in Westmoreland, Tennessee, in 2019.
- After the state said it would seek the death penalty against Cummins, his defense lawyer tried to block the move.
- A judge ruled Monday that the state can seek the death penalty.
- Cummins has undergone mental health evaluations while in custody. His mental state was a key consideration in arguments over the death penalty.
A judge ruled Monday that prosecutors can seek the death penalty for Michael Cummins, who is set to face trial this spring for one of Tennessee’s deadliest mass murders.
The judge’s decision was delivered orally Monday, according to District Attorney General Ray Whitley. Cummins was charged and arrested after eight people, including a 12-year-old girl, were found dead in April 2019 across three gruesome crime scenes in Westmoreland in Sumner County.
The state announced it would seek the death penalty against Cummins in August 2019 — a move his defense lawyer tried to block. Mental health was a key consideration during arguments made earlier this month on whether Cummins, 29, is mentally fit to be executed. Both the defense and prosecution called psychologists to testify before the judge, according to Whitley. Cummins has undergone mental health evaluations while in custody.
Judge Dee David Gay took the matter under advisement for nine days before rendering his decision Monday.
“The burden of proof was not met by the defense that Cummins had a mental disability which would prevent the state from seeking the death penalty,” Whitley told The Tennessean on Monday.
Cummins was originally set to go to trial in April 2022, but it was delayed. Jury selection is now set for April 10-11, Whitley said. The trial will begin April 12.
Whitley, alongside Assistant District Attorneys Eric Mauldin and Jennifer Nichols, are the prosecutors on the case. Attorney James A. Simmons is defending Cummins. It was not clear when Gay would release a written opinion on his Monday ruling.
Inside the Michael Cummins case:A bloody crime scene was just the beginning
What’s happened in the Michael Cummins case so far
In 2019, investigators said Cummins, then 25, killed his mother, his father, his uncle, his uncle’s girlfriend and two members of the girlfriend’s family at a home on Charles Brown Road. A seventh person was found dead at a home less than a mile away on Luby Brown Road.
Cummins’ grandmother, Mary Sue Hosale, was the sole survivor of the attack and was found badly injured in the Charles Brown Road home. When authorities later questioned her, she told them she didn’t remember anything. She died in 2022 due to multiple health issues, according to her family.
From 2019:Timeline of ‘horrific’ discovery, manhunt and investigation in Sumner County mass murder
Cummins was also charged in an eighth homicide after the headless body of John Fox Dunn Jr. was found outside a burned cabin in Westmoreland. Dunn’s body was discovered before the deaths of the other seven, but investigators didn’t announce his death was connected to Cummins until nearly one month later. It is unknown if Dunn, 63, was decapitated during the killing or if his head was separated by decomposition or another method, Whitley said.
The other seven victims were identified as:
- David Carl Cummins, 51
- Clara Jane Cummins, 44
- Charles Edward Hosale, 45
- Rachel Dawn McGlothlin-Pee, 43
- Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee, 12
- Marsha Elizabeth Nuckols, 64
- Shirley B. Fehrle, 69
Cummins ran from the area around the family home in Westmoreland after his relatives found the bodies on April 27, investigators said. He was captured after an hours-long manhunt in the area near where the bodies were found. He was taken to Sumner County hospital after he was shot by police during his arrest.
The state of Tennessee later announced it would pursue the death penalty against Cummins.
Cummins faces eight counts of homicide and one count of attempted murder. He also faces charges for violating probation he was placed on following a 2017 arson and aggravated assault conviction.