The third murder victim is scheduled to die
A close relative of two murder victims is to be executed in Oklahoma on September 25, 2008. He has proclaimed his innocence from the beginning. A clemency hearing is set for August 21, 2008 before the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board.
Germany (IIPPI), August 5, 2008
It is undisputed that Jessie James Cummings’ two wives shot and killed his sister, Judy Ann Moody Mayo, and his minor niece, Melissa Moody, in Coal County on September 5, 1991. Cummings was 100 miles away in Oklahoma City at that time. Almost five years later, he was convicted of the initially unsolved crimes based on the uncorroborated and inconsistent testimonies of his co-defendants, Juanita and Sherry Cummings. On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed Jessie Cummings’ conviction for the murder of his sister, but affirmed the conviction and sentence for the murder of his niece.
The murder weapon has never been located in either murder. Cummings has not confessed. There is no evidence of a motive on his part. The trial showed the prisoner was on good terms with the victims. Unlike his co-defendants, Cummings refused to accept plea offers. He has consistently maintained his innocence of these offenses. W.A. Drew Edmondson, Attorney General of Oklahoma, admits in a letter that the evidence in this case consists primarily of the sworn testimonies of the self-confessed murderers. Edmondson’s role is to represent the state in this matter. He utters, “I do so with confidence that the jury reached the correct decision.”
Coal County was a sparsely populated county with a population of less than 6000 people in 1990. Some of the jurors knew Cummings personally. Most of them admitted that they had read about the case in the newspaper or heard about it on T.V. In return for Juanita Cummings’ testimony, the prosecution agreed to drop the first degree murder charge against her and allow her to plead guilty to second degree murder with an agreement that no other charges would be filed against her with a recommended sentence to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. In return for Sherry Cummings’ testimony, the prosecution agreed to drop the first degree murder charge against her and allow her to plead guilty to two counts of accessory after the fact of murder and one count of abuse or permitting a child to be abused with a sentence totaling thirty-five (35) years imprisonment and an agreement that no other charges be filed against her.
For details of this case go to www.iippi.org/inmates/oklahoma/jessiejamescummings.html .