Rickey Cummings

Case record: Rickey Cummings

Background

Rickey Cummings was recorded with the name Rickey Donnell Cummings, and with TDCJ number 999577. He was received on 11/13/2012 at age 23. His highest grade completed was 12. He was recorded as Black, male, with black hair, brown eyes, and a height of 5'11" and weight of 180. His native county was McLennan and native state was Texas. His prior occupation was warehouse and assembly line laborer. His prior prison record was none.

The offence

On 03/28/2011, Rickey Cummings and subject and two accomplices and two codefendants approached a vehicle with four adult males and shot the vehicle more than 20 times with various weapons. Two victims were shot eight times and were pronounced dead at the scene. The other two victims ran off, while Cummings chased them, but the gun jammed and they were not hit.

Cummings was charged with capital murder for the shooting at Waco's Lakewood Villas on March 28, 2011. He was charged in Waco’s 19th State District Court in the March 28, 2011 shooting deaths of Tyus Sneed and Keenan Hubert at the Lakewood Villas apartments. Tyus Sneed was recorded as 17 and Keenan Hubert was recorded as 20. They sat in the back seat of a car at the Spring Street apartments. Two other men in the front seat, Deontrae Majors and Marion Bible, were wounded in the ambush but managed to escape and flee.

Cummings testified that he was at the Lakewood Villas visiting his grandmother. Then his brother Darvis picked him up and brought him to Carver St. because Rickey was having car problems. He testified that while they were gone the gunfire erupted, killing Hubert and Sneed, and that he rushed back to ensure his brother was not hurt after hearing about the shootings.

A prosecution account described that Cummings thought Hubert had killed his friend Emuel “Man Man” Bowers III in a Waco park in 2010, and that Cummings murdered Hubert in retaliation.

Investigation

A witness testified that she saw Cummings standing in her doorway with a jammed pistol in his hand while she was struck in the leg by shrapnel from a stray bullet that went through her apartment wall. She said he was trying to clear the weapon and she shut her door and locked it.

Prosecutors argued that Cummings killed Hubert and Sneed in retribution for what he thought to be Hubert’s involvement in the April 2010 shooting death of Emuel “Man Man” Bowers III at Hood Street Park. Prosecutors also presented a cell phone and text message account and witnesses’ testimony connected to the time of the March 28, 2011 shooting ambush.

Closing summations included an argument that Albert Love stashed guns in a nearby apartment and that a witness saw men running with guns, including one with a rifle, before the shooting. Trial evidence showed that an AK-47-type weapon was used in the killings along with handguns.

During summations, prosecutors said Cummings texted someone, “get rid of the bullets,” and stated that phone records showed the text.

Arrest

No arrest details were provided in the case record.

Trial

A McLennan County jury convicted Rickey Donnell Cummings of capital murder. The jury deliberated about three hours before convicting him. The jury found Cummings guilty of capital murder.

Charges and parties

Co-defendants named in the case record included Albert Love and Diarvis Cummings. Three more men were described as awaiting their capital murder trials for their alleged roles in the shooting. Darvis Cummings was also described as facing a capital murder charge. Albert Love was described as being charged with capital murder in the Lakewood Villas shooting.

District Attorney Abel Reyna prosecuted the case with his two top assistants, Michael Jarrett and Greg Davis.

Cummings was represented by Russ Hunt Sr., Walter M. Reaves Jr., and Michelle Tuegel.

Defence position

Cummings rejected an alibi described in the case record that he was selling marijuana six blocks away when two men were gunned down in 2011 at the Lakewood Villas apartments. Cummings told jurors he was not involved in the deaths.

Cummings denied affiliation with any street gangs and denied he was involved in the double slaying. He also testified that he routinely carried a gun for his and his family’s protection because he had been shot twice since 2006. He denied killing Tyus Sneed and Keenan Hubert and denied affiliation with any street gangs.

Cummings testified that when Bowers’ cellphone rang at the murder scene, he took the phone and talked about the moment he said he felt like “my heart dropped to my feet” when he arrived and found Bowers dead in the car.

Cummings denied that red colors or signs in photos from Bowers’ funeral had anything to do with gang affiliation. He said a three-finger gesture forming an E signifies “East Waco,” and that those symbols are common with young people and do not have anything to do with gangs.

Cummings stated that he checked Bowers’ pulse and that he was gone. He also said he took Bowers’ cellphone from his car not intending to retaliate against Bowers’ killer, but to try to find clues to who might have done it. He said he tried to figure out who killed Bowers but was not seeking retaliation for his murder.

Cummings said he only met Sneed once and had no problem with Hubert.

Defense counsel argued for Cummings’ case at multiple points:

• Russ Hunt Sr. said there is “no gun, no DNA and no reliable eyewitness” in the state’s case.
• Hunt questioned the reliability and mental fitness of witness Nickoll Henry, who said she saw Cummings after the shooting holding a jammed pistol, and Hunt said Henry testified she is mentally ill, hears voices and has Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
• Hunt downplayed tattoos, colors and hand signs that prosecutors said showed Cummings was a gang member, and said if a five-sided star meant someone was in a gang, then the Dallas Cowboys must be Bloods gang members.
• Hunt said there is nothing wrong in trying to find out who killed his friend and that did not mean he retaliated against Hubert.
• Hunt characterized Cummings as an “innocent man” and referred to “gate keepers” preventing the state from running over him.
• Walter M. Reaves Jr. disputed the state’s argument that young men who hang out together, have signs and colors, is a gang, and said in another part of town they call that a fraternity.
• Reaves said, “There is absolutely no evidence that Rickey Cummings is a member of a gang, except what Mr. Jarrett told you,” and argued that the prosecution wanted the jury to make the case about gangs because people are scared of gangs.
• Reaves asked the jury to decide the case solely on the evidence, not speculation or misleading statements, and reminded jurors of the presumption of innocence and that the state had to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt.

The jury heard that a juror wrote posts on Facebook about the trial, which violated instructions. Judge Ralph Strother warned the juror separately and the jury as a whole not to write anything about the trial on social media sites or to text or email. Strother said the juror was “contrite” and “very embarrassed,” and the juror promised nothing on Facebook would affect her verdict. Wednesday’s testimony was cut short because a juror needed to attend a family member’s funeral.

Evidence presented

A shooting reconstruction expert was named as Edward Hueske. Hueske testified there was no way of knowing who the shooter was based on his evidence and whether there was a shooter at the back of the car who missed their target. He also testified that recovered cartridge casings were not an absolute indicator of where the shots were fired, stating that casings could be kicked or moved. He testified he did not find bullet holes in the Grand Marquis that matched the .45-caliber handgun Cummings said he preferred and left in the back pouch of the front passenger seat of Darvis’s car. He testified that about 12 bullet holes appeared to be shots from an AK- or SKS-style rifle and that almost all shots came from the front of the car, with only two from a side-on directionality.

Marion Bible and Deontrae Majors were described as survivors who were wounded in the ambush but managed to escape the car.

Verbatim statements during trial and closing

Hubert’s father, Artie Matthews, said:

“I see you like tattoos. You like needles? You're going to have one waiting for you,” said Hubert's father, Artie Matthews, referring to lethal injection.

Sneed’s father, Robert Earl Sneed, said:

“I’m just sorry for everybody that’s involved,” he said. “It’s not going to bring him back . . . I’m just shook up right now.”

Sneed’s quote was also recorded as:

“Do you know what it's like finding your own child riddled with bullets?” Sneed asked. “May God have mercy on your soul.”

Marion Bible said:

“You messed up my whole life,” Bible said, adding that he walks around Waco constantly watching his back, “I don't feel sorry for you. You didn't feel sorry for me.”

Deontrae Majors’ mother read the statement:

“We wanted to grow old together, be fathers together,” Majors wrote, of his best friend, Keenan Hubert.

Majors wrote that he can't sleep because he hears Hubert and Sneed screaming for their lives.

Hubert’s cousin, Aphtan Daniella, said:

“You're going to have to answer to God,” Daniella said, calling him the son of the devil. “You're not a man. You're a coward.”

Cummings told his family:

“Don't cry.”

District attorney Abel Reyna declined comment after court recessed Friday afternoon.

Prosecutor Michael Jarrett told jurors:

“We are one community,” Jarrett told the jury. “We are not East Waco. We are not North Waco and we are not West or South Waco. We are one community, and I ask you to stand up with the community and tell Rickey Cummings exactly what he is. He is a murderer.”

In closing, Jarrett said:

“Rickey Cummings got his hand caught in the cookie jar,” he tells the jury. “Follow those cookie crumbs.”

Jarrett said:

“Thank God they can't shoot straight,” Jarrett said, or there would be two others killed in the incident.

Jarrett said:

“He is a murderer.”

Jarrett said:

“I believe he's intelligent, and that's what makes him dangerous,” he said. “He's calculating. He's cold-blood.”

Defense attorney Russ Hunt Sr. said:

“We feel terrible about it,” Hunt said.

Hunt said:

“We’ve gotten to know and like Rickey and we feel terrible about the verdict.”

Hunt said:

“He wanted to tell his story. It was his story to tell,” Hunt said.

Tuegel asked:

“Who wouldn’t want to tell their side of the story when their life is on the line?”

Russ Hunt Sr. said:

“He is a coward.”

Defense attorney Walter M. Reaves Jr. said:

“The prosecution wants you to believe that young men who hang out together, have some signs and wear the same colors are a gang,” Reaves said. “That is not true. In another part of town, they call that a fraternity.”

Reaves said:

“There is absolutely no evidence that Rickey Cummings is a member of a gang, except what Mr. Jarrett told you,”

Also recorded, Hunt’s statement:

Cummings testified and said:

“I checked his pulse. He was gone. I (looked) right into his eyes,” Cummings said.

Cummings said:

“I felt like I lost my brother. I still hurt about it to this day.”

Cummings testified about wanting self-protection and said:

“I don't want to be killed... I have a right to protect myself, my property and my family.”

Cummings testified he preferred:

“I prefer a .45,” referring to a .45-caliber handgun.

Cummings claimed:

“I found my brother dead,” Cummings said of the moment when he got to the park. “I felt like my heart dropped to my feet.”

Judge Ralph Strother gave instructions about social media and described the juror as “contrite” and “very embarrassed,” and said:

“contrite” and “very embarrassed,”

Judge Ralph Strother also told families to remain composed and said:

“heavy responsibility”

Prosecutor Greg Davis said:

Cummings’ statement to his family:

Forensic evidence about the victims’ injuries

A forensic pathologist testified about injuries suffered by Tyus Sneed and Keenan Huber. Tyus Sneed suffered 8 bullet wounds. The record stated his bullets ripped into tissue of his back and shoulder and exited the right side of his neck, severing the aorta. Dr. Jill Urban testified that the longest a person with such a wound could have lived would have been less than a minute. The record stated that Dr. Jill Urban could not offer any conclusion as to which wound came first.

The record stated that Tyus Sneed had a left to right shot that shattered his upper jaw, ripping into his lips and leaving his mouth with destroyed teeth, described as resembling piano keys. Color pictures were shown to jurors and family. It also stated that hands were bagged awaiting testing for gunshot residue.

Keenan Huber was described as suffering an through-and-through wound that entered the top right side of his back and exited the base of his throat; another bullet pierced the right side of the upper back and plowed through the lung; yet another severed his aorta and destroyed his left lung. The record stated that two bullets ripped into his left hand as he threw it up to cover his face, and one clipped off the index fingertip.

Toxic screening of body fluids revealed only the active ingredient THC and broken down chemicals from marijuana. The record stated neither man had been drinking alcohol or using other drugs.

Conviction

On November 2, 2012, the jury convicted Cummings of capital murder for the shooting deaths of Tyus Sneed and Keenan Hubert. The jury deliberated about three hours before finding him guilty.

Sentencing

A McLennan County jury sentenced Rickey Cummings to death on November 7, 2012, for the murders of Tyus Sneed and Keenan Hubert. The judge said Cummings' death would be by lethal injection, and that an appeal for the decision was mandatory with a court-appointed attorney for Cummings.

The judge thanked the jurors for their service and said it carried a “heavy responsibility.”

To decide the death penalty, jurors had to answer yes to the first two special issues and no to the third. The first issue was whether or not Cummings was a threat to society. The second issue was whether Cummings actually caused the deaths of Hubert and Sneed or anticipated their deaths. The third question was whether any mitigating circumstance from evidence, Cummings’ character or moral culpability warranted life in prison.

Attorney Russ Hunt Sr. asked Judge Strother to poll the jury after the sentencing; all jurors agreed they answered yes to the first two issues and no to the last, arriving at the death penalty.

Appeals

The death sentence included an appeal process described as mandatory, with a court-appointed attorney for Cummings.

Outcome

Rickey Cummings was sentenced to death. The legal outcome remained a death sentence following the jury’s sentencing decision.

Other details

Cummings’ recorded education level completed was 12; he was described as a warehouse and assembly line laborer prior occupation. He was also described as having a car problems situation prior to the shootings and claimed he was visiting his grandmother at the time he said the day of Hubert’s and Sneed’s deaths.

The victims’ families gave victim impact statements. The record included statements by Hubert’s father Artie Matthews, Sneed’s father Robert Earl Sneed, Marion Bible, and Deontrae Majors’ mother, as well as Hubert’s cousin Aphtan Daniella.

Cetha Sneed, Tyus’ 21-year-old sister, said the family was pleased with the verdict but would be “more happy on Monday,” and said:

“We’re halfway there to getting justice,” she said. “We really miss Tyus and Keenan.”

Cummings’ grandmother Erma Richards said:

“They convicted him, in my opinion, on 'He said, she said,'”

Cummings’ mother Elma Richards said:

“I knew today coming into this - I told my family, 'Be prepared, because I am. They're going to come back with the death penalty,'”

During trial summations, prosecutor Greg Davis said jurors did not produce murder weapons because Cummings and others “ditched them” and stated:

“Cummings lied through his teeth when he denied he was in a gang,” Davis said.

Prosecutors characterized Cummings as a “cold-blooded, ruthless killer,” and defense counsel contested the reliability of witnesses and evidence.