Eva Cummings, who admitted smothering her disabled daughter, Laura Cummings, sentenced to life in prison

Erie County Sheriffs Office detectives Captain Ron Kenyon says this is the worst case he's seen in 30-years of law enforcement.
"We've never seen anything quite as horrific as what we've seen with this investigation," said Capt. Kenyon.
Today 51-year old Eva Cummings was arraigned in North Collins Town Court on a second degree murder charge in connection with the death of her physically and mentally disabled daughter 23-year old Laura Cummings. Laura's brother 31-year old Luke Wright as also arraigned on felony assault charges in connection with the death.
On January 21, 23-year old Laura Cummings was found dead inside the family apartment on Sherman Avenue. The Erie County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide.
"The medical examiner ruled she was killed by three means: the final straw was suffocation, but she also had blunt force trauma and thermal burns to her face," said Capt. Kenyon at today's news conference.
Police say those "thermal burns" were caused by boiling hot water thrown in Laura's face allegedly by her brother Luke. Kenyon says their investigation further revealed a disturbing pattern of physical and mental abuse dating all the way back to the mid-nineties.
Kenyon also says he believe Laura's disabilities played a role in abuse.
Captain Kenyon says there was an eerie sense of déjà vu investigating this case. He says six-years ago there was a murder in the same apartment building just upstairs from where Laura's body was found.
The case was unrelated to Cummings murder.
Meantime, the Erie County prosecutor handling the case says Eva Cummings is due back in court next Thursday. He says he expects additional charges to be filed before the case is handed to a grand jury.

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Father, David Cummings, admits he physically abused Laura

The father of a North Collins woman, who was allegedly killed by her own mother, is now speaking out.

The cycle of abuse started long ago for Laura Cummings.

David Cummings exclaimed, "I miss her."

David Cummings is talking about his 23 year old daughter Laura Cummings, who was found dead on January 21st inside her North Collins apartment that she shared with her mother and two brothers.

Her own mother, 51 year old Eva Cummings is charged with her murder.

"Never thought she was capable of doing something like this," he explained.

David admits that he hasn't been a good father.

He hasn't even seen his four children in years or even tried to make contact with them.

"I have a lot of regrets," David expressed.

The abuse for the Cummings children started at an early age.

David said he was abusive to them before his ex-wife, Eva left him.

"I look back at it and I guess what I did was pretty stupid, but what she did was even worse," he said.

He also said he has since had treatment for his abuse, yet did not reach out to contact his children through the years, all the while living just miles away.

Not only was Laura being abused by her mother, according to police, her brother, 31-year-old Luke Wright was also arrested and charged with assault.

Authorities said he poured scalding hot water on the young woman's face.

But the autopsy shows she actually died of blunt force trauma and suffocation.

David stated in shock, "This whole thing is sickening!"

David said while he didn't know of the abuse going on inside this home, he should have done more.

"Well I'm sorry I didn't try. I wish now I would have," he exclaimed.

Adult Protective Services had been called to the home in the past, but found no evidence of abuse.

Both Eva Cummings and Luke Wright return to court later this week.

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The mother and half-brother of a developmentally disabled woman are facing charges in connection to her death.

Laura Cummings was found dead on Jan. 21 in the bathroom of the apartment she shared with her family in North Collins, N.Y.. Authorities arrested Eva Cummings, 51, and Luke Wright, 31, on Friday night. Cummings has been arraigned on a murder charge, while Wright faces an assault charge.

Authorities say the 23-year-old woman had been abused previously. Contact information for lawyers for her mother and half-brother could not be found. No telephone number for the family residence could be located.

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Police revealed today that Laura Cummings was physically and mentally challenged. Detectives say there's evidence of past physical and mental abuse.

According to both family and North Collins town justice John Stevens, Adult and Child Protective Services were called to the house in July and October, but the abuse allegations were unfounded.



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Laura Cummings struggled with mental and physical disabilities her entire life.

A grown woman of 23, she had the mental capacity of an 8-year-old girl. She talked with a speech impediment and had difficulty swallowing food.

Worse than any of the disabilities, though, was the mistreatment she received at the hands of her mother, according to authorities and at least one family member.

Laura Cummings had endured years of physical abuse which escalated to murder, authorities said, when she was found dead Jan. 21 in the bathroom of the family apartment following a particularly torturous span of hours.

Eva M. Cummings, 51, was arraigned Saturday in North Collins Town Court on a charge second-degree murder in the suffocation of her daughter.

Cummings broke out in tears during the court proceedings as she tried to address Justice John M. Stevens.

Stevens told Cummings she would be able to explain herself to her assigned attorney.

Erie County sheriff’s investigators said Cummings covered her daughter’s nose and mouth with her bare hands. By then, investigators said, the daughter had been doused in the face with a pot of scalding water by Luke Wright, 31, Cummings’ son and the victim’s half-brother, who was charged with first-degree assault.

Wright, wearing a Carhartt coat, oversized jeans and rubber boots, tried to tell the judge that he wasn’t home at the time he was accused of committing the crime.

Both Cummings and Wright were being held in the Erie County Holding Center without bail.

More charges against the two, and possibly others, are pending, said Capt. Ronald L. Kenyon of the Sheriff’s Office.

“Through the investigation, we found evidence of abuse going back to 1995, physical abuse and mental abuse also,” Kenyon said. “We’ve never seen anything quite as horrific as we’ve seen in this investigation. . . . The totality of what transpired there is beyond belief.”

Kenyon would not comment on whether Laura Cummings had been sexually abused. But he did say that the physical mistreatment appeared to increase in severity.

“It looks like in the last couple of weeks the pattern of abuse seemed to step up, and we don’t know why,” he said.

The mistreatment went on for years, even though it apparently was an open secret within North Collins.

“Unfortunately, I think a lot of people thought someone else was taking care of it,” Kenyon said. “It’s like nobody knows and everybody knows. And it’s a tragedy, an absolutely horrific event.”

The victim’s younger brother, Richard, 22, had been trying for months to get her removed from the apartment at 2052 Sherman Ave., where she had lived with her mother, half-brother and another brother, Eddie, for 18 years.

Eddie Cummings was not charged and is not considered a suspect, investigators said.

Richard Cummings, a member of the Air Force who lives on a base in North Carolina, said he had complained, on multiple occasions, to the county’s Adult Protective Services unit, which is charged with protecting adults with disabilities from abuse.

“She should have been put in a different home,” he said. “I knew something like this was going to happen. I’m very frustrated and very angry that she was not removed from that household.”

Richard Cummings, who was back in Western New York on leave for his sister’s funeral, said Adult Protective Services investigators never went into the home and merely spoke with his mother.

“My mother had lied to them, saying everything was fine,” he said.

Richard Cummings became increasingly concerned about his sister last summer, when he received a text message from a younger sister who doesn’t live with Eva Cummings. The message indicated that Laura Cummings’ arm had been badly cut and was not being treated.

At the time, Richard Cummings asked Stevens, the town justice, to help him file a complaint with the county’s Protective Services unit.

Stevens acknowledged in an interview after Saturday’s arraignment that he had helped Richard Cummings with an initial telephone call to Child Protective Services, but he said he was not involved in the case beyond that.

The complaint went to Child Protective Services because Stevens wasn’t sure of Laura Cummings’ age. Eventually, Adult Protective Services was contacted, but the complaint apparently was determined to be unfounded.

Laura Cummings suffered from years of abuse simply because “she was mentally challenged and they didn’t like it,” said Richard Cummings, who left the house at age 18 and lived with neighbors who took him in.

His sister was punched, kicked and beaten with “anything they could get a hand on,” he said. “It was mostly my mother.”

His sister, he added, “didn’t really know how to handle it. She didn’t know what to do. She was confused.”

Laura Cummings had attended special-education programs in the Iroquois, East Aurora and North Collins school districts, until her mother decided to stop sending her because she believed it wasn’t helping, said Richard Cummings, who had hoped his sister could be placed in a group home.

“Anywhere away from that household would’ve been fine,” he said. “If someone taught her how to do things, she would’ve been fine.”

Richard Cummings said his father, David, had not been part of the family for more than 15 years.

Caroline Lee, who lives down the street from the Cummings home and took in Richard Cummings, saw Laura Cummings on a couple occasions in recent months and noticed severe facial bruising and hand injuries.

“Her whole face was bashed in,” Lee said. “It looked like someone took her face and punched it.”

Eva Cummings told people that Laura had fallen down the stairs. But Lee said the family home has only a couple of stairs and the severity of Laura Cummings’ injuries didn’t seem consistent with that explanation.

“There’s no way you could fall down two little stairs and do that much damage,” she said.

Sheriff’s deputies went to the Cummings home at about 4:18 p. m. Jan. 21, after Eva Cummings told a relative that her daughter was “unresponsive.” The relative called 911.

The death resulted from what had begun as a spat between Laura Cummings and Luke Wright over a mundane matter, Kenyon said.

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Cummings shared the North Collins apartment with her mother and three siblings.

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And her siblings did NOTHING, WHY? Charge all of them!

Offender Record
Offender ID: 122704
Offender Name: EVA M CUMMINGS
Date of Birth: 01/01/1959
Age: 51
Custody Status: In Custody
Scheduled Release Date:
Location of Offender: Erie County Jail
Race: White
Gender: Female
Alternate ID's
Arrest Number#: 2010001790
Other Jail Number 1#: 0000122704
Offender Record
Offender ID: 122697
Offender Name: LUKE J WRIGHT
Date of Birth: 08/03/1978
Age: 31
Custody Status: In Custody
Scheduled Release Date:
Location of Offender: Erie County Jail
Race: White
Gender: Male
Alternate ID's
Arrest Number#: 2010001776
Other Jail Number 1#: 0000122697

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Neighbor, Rebecca Lee explained, "Her mom was kinda mean to her."

Neighbors saw the way Eva treated her disabled daughter.

Robert Lee said, "Somebody had walked by and the daughter was looking over at her and Eva didn't like it so she just snatched her by the back of the head and took her in the house, right by the hair."

Young Rebecca said she would visit Laura, who didn't get out of the house very often.

"She always looked lonely so I went over to see how she was. She was real nice," Rebecca expressed.

Investigators said that Child Protective Services had been called to the house in the past, but found nothing unusual.

Captain Kenyon said sadly, this is a case that fell through the cracks.

"Perhaps a lot of people had a hunch of what was going on, but I think everybody, unfortunately, thought that somebody else was taking care of it," he said.

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Fell through the cracks.....not a good enough excuse for what happened to Laura.

North Collins officials tell YNN, Laura's brother Richard Cummings filed a complaint back in July. He was upset about how he felt Laura was being mistreated by the family. Child Protective Services came out to investigate but when they realized the victim was 23 and disabled, Adult Protective Services came out to investigate a month later.

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"We have found an extensive pattern of physical abuse and mental abuse of Laura, going back about 15 years. But it seemed to escalate over the last two weeks, which unfortunately resulted in this absolute tragedy."

Another sibling, a 26-year-old brother, who lives in the home is not being charged. Kenyon said so far, the evidence does not show he had any role in the events that led up to Laura Cummings' death last Thursday.

Kenyon stressed that the investigation is not over. He said authorities are now gathering additional background information about the family, and more charges are expected to be filed against Eva Cummings and Luke Wright.

"It's been a very difficult investigation for the detectives. We've worked this one pretty much around the clock since it started... it has not ended with the arrest. Usually you say it ends with the arrest, this one has not. It's still ongoing."

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Luke Wright

Laura CUMMINGS
CUMMINGS - Laura Suddenly, January 21, 2010, age 23, sister of Richard, Crystal Cummings, Ed Overmoyer, Luke and Tricia Wright. Friends may call Saturday from 9-12 PM at which time funeral services will be held at the WENTLAND FUNERAL HOME, North Collins.

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Eva Cummings and Laura's father weren't listed as relatives in the obit.

Why do these victims have to die before someone notices that they have been abused?
It is so sad when the weakest most vulnerable among us are harmed and NO ONE does anything to prevent it.

This isn't the first case we've followed concerning these types of crimes.


Children Speak About Abusive Mother
by NiteSpinR on Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:30 am
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October 23, 2009

OMAHA, Neb. -- The children of a mother accused of tying up her mentally disabled son said they would have stepped in if they knew their mother needed help.
Patricia Wofford, 60, is charged with abuse of a vulnerable adult. She was granted a pre-trial release Friday.
Prosecutors said police found her son, 40-year-old Kevin Wofford, standing in her driveway near 18th and Miami streets with a broken rope tied to a chain that was padlocked around his leg.
They also said investigators found another part of the broken rope tied around a door knob.
Patricia Wofford restrained her son because it was difficult to find someone to watch him while she worked, prosecutors said.
"We love her. We love her. That's all we're going to say," said Wofford's other two children, Tiffny and Anthony Gill.
However, the siblings provided conflicting perspectives on their mother's treatment of Kevin Wofford.
Said the son, "It just got blown out of proportion, it's totally out of proportion."
He said he can't believe his mother would tie up his brother, though he also can't explain the broken rope around his brother's leg.
Tiffny Gill, though, said she felt her mother was embarrassed by Kevin Wofford.
"She never wanted him around family or nothing like that," she said. "I'm glad somebody in that neighborhood was watching out."
Kevin Wofford is in the custody of the Department of Health and Human Services. Patricia Wofford has a preliminary hearing scheduled for Nov. 20.
She faces up to five years in prison if convicted.

IMO if one freaken phone call doesn't offer up some results then you call and call again.
It is the right thing to do for someone who is unable to do for themselves.
I'm pretty sure most of you would agree with me... and that is why we group together!

NiteSpinR, I can't find that thread. If you can would you bump it up so we can see it. I'll see if I can find out where this case is right now.
Patricia Wofford

I am so sick of these protective service reports that state, "complaint unfounded".

The arrest of Eva Cummings for the murder of her disabled daughter Laura Cummings, 23, was a big topic of conversation around North Collins over the weekend. Now another member of the family is speaking out saying he tried his best to get Laura out of an abusive home before it was too late.

Laura Cummings' younger brother Richard Cummings, 22, moved out of the family apartment a few years ago and then joined the Air Force, but he didn't abandon his family. He says he kept trying to get protective services to help Laura and he's devastated by what happened. "I thought things were getting better but then I received messages from another family member saying that she was getting worse," says Richard Cummings.
While he was stationed some 700 miles away in North Carolina for the Air Force Richard Cummings says he did the best he could when relatives told him about the escalating abuse of his developmentally disabled sister. He called child protective services and adult protective services. "They had came out several times, 5-6 times and they had not gotten a warrant to go inside the house so they had not pulled her out of that situation like I would have liked them to," explains Cummings.
Stuffed bears and flowers now mark the entry to the North Collins apartment where investigators say Laura Cummings' half brother Luke Wright tortured her by pouring scalding hot water on her. He's charged with assault. Laura's mother Eva Cummings is facing a murder charge. Investigators say Laura was beaten and suffocated.
Richard Cummings has no sympathy for his mother. "I just hope that she stays in prison, I mean it's a murder case and I don't expect anything less," says Cummings. He also wants protective services to take a good look at how they handled this case. He doesn't understand why they didn't do more to protect someone so vulnerable.
"It's just a devastating time knowing that she was handicapped and couldn't really defend herself," says Cummings.
A county representative for protective services tells Eyewitness News that by law they can not comment on any of their cases, but speaking in general terms the representative says that it would be standard procedure to go back and thoroughly review the steps taken in a case like this in an effort to determine if case workers responded appropriately.

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A family member says he is angry and frustrated that Erie County’s Adult Protective Services unit didn’t help remove Laura Cummings from her abusive household long before she was killed two weeks ago.

But county officials — while adamantly refusing to discuss the case — insisted Monday that that’s not their job.

“PSA [Protective Services for Adults] does not have the authority to remove people from their homes,” Erie County Social Services Commissioner Carol Dankert said. “We certainly do our absolute best to determine whether someone is unsafe. If we really feel they’re unsafe and the family is not cooperating, we would seek help from law enforcement.”

Cummings, 23, who struggled with mental and physical impairments her whole life, was found dead in her family’s North Collins apartment on Jan. 21.

Authorities and family members have said she was physically abused in the home for years. Charge all the family members that were aware of the abuse. There is no excuse for turning your head when you see a child suffering at the hands of a parent.....or anyone! BJ

Her younger brother, Richard Cummings, told The Buffalo News that he had complained, on multiple occasions, to the Adult Protective Services unit, which protects adults with mental or physical impairments from any abuse. The unit is under the county’s Social Services Department umbrella.

“She should have been put in a different home,” he said Saturday. “I knew something like this was going to happen. I’m very frustrated and very angry that she was not removed from that household.”

Saturday, Laura Cummings’ mother, Eva M. Cummings, 51, was arraigned on a second-degree murder charge in the suffocation of her daughter. Laura’s half brother, Luke Wright, 31, has been charged with assault after being accused of dousing the young woman in the face with a pot of scalding water before the strangling.

Richard Cummings, who lives on an Air Force base in North Carolina, said Adult Protective Services caseworkers never went into the home and merely spoke with his mother.

“My mother had lied to them, saying everything was fine,” he said.

Dankert, the county official designated to talk about the issue, said she is bound by strict confidentiality restraints from saying anything about a specific case.

“I believe that a face-to-face meeting occurs on any referral to Protective Services for Adults,” she said. “That is our expectation. Our caseworkers know that, and our supervisors know that.”

What would she say to Richard Cummings?

“I’m sorry for the brother’s pain,” she said. “I understand why he is upset and frustrated. I just don’t know that the Department of Social Services . . . didn’t do their job.”

Dankert explained that the Adult Protective Services unit has 15 caseworkers, who investigated about 460 allegations of adult abuse or neglect last year. About a quarter of those claims were found to be warranted.

The unit has three days to begin an investigation following a complaint and 60 days to complete the probe. The caseworker goes to the home and attempts to speak with the alleged victim, the caregiver or accused abuser and anyone else with relevant information.

Often, the two sides in the case are willing to work on the situation, and the caseworker helps connect them to available support services, such as counseling, adult day care or respite care for the caregiver.

If the caregiver won’t talk or won’t let the caseworker speak with the victim, or if the caseworker believes the abused person isn’t safe in the home, the worker will go to law enforcement or, in rare cases, the courts.

Dankert said she hopes this case won’t discourage anyone from filing complaints of alleged abuse or neglect. Those calls can be made to 858-6877 for citizens 60 and over, or 858-6901 for younger adults.

“I would encourage folks to continue to call the number any time they have a legitimate concern about how someone is being treated in the community,” she said.

Erie County Legislator Lynne Dixon, R-Hamburg, said she plans to call Dankert.

“Any time there’s an issue impacting our most vulnerable citizens, we have to question whether we did everything in our power to protect them,” Dixon said. “I want to know from the Department of Social Services if we did all we could do.”

Dankert said she knows Social Services and its Adult Protective Services unit will be criticized in such cases.

“We can’t comment one way or the other, so we have to take the heat,” she added.

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Of course they have to take the heat. I don't care to hear their excuses. There is no excuse for this.

I can relate to this situation, and know from personal experience, where there is abuse (in this case it was verbal) but no one would listen. I was so angry I wanted to leave my employment, but felt if I left worse would happen. Sick to death of long investigations and the term UNFOUNDED!

Richard Cummings, who lives on an Air Force base in North Carolina, said Adult Protective Services caseworkers never went into the home and merely spoke with his mother.
“My mother had lied to them, saying everything was fine,” he said.

Why in the hell would an investigator take the word of an accused abuser? Of course she's gonna lie!
Are they expecting the people under suspicion to just say "Well Sure I Beat the Crap Out Of Them" ?

I know by Law such things have to be investigated, but I think the people assigned to this task should look first at the person making the report. What does this person gain by reporting an abusive parent? One sibling knows another is being harmed either by witnessing it or seeing the results of abuse, in my eyes that is proof enough!
IMO
These cases don't get followed up on, because the State would have to step in and take possession and responsibility for a disabled person. It cost less to leave them where they are.

10:12 a.m.: The Sheriff's Office had initially told us they planned to release more details about the case, but this morning's press conference turned into a request for information from the public. Capt. Ronald L. Kenyon said the department does not want to release more information because it may compromise their case.

Kenyon said the information investigators want involves past incidents, and they hope to strengthen their case by showing a pattern of abusive behavior.
There are no specific persons who they consider to be additional suspects at this time, Kenyon said, but information about other incidents of "serious, serious physical abuse."

9:10 a.m.: Erie County sheriff's officials have scheduled a 9:30 a.m. press conference to release details about the death of a physically and mentally disabled North Collins woman.
Laura Cummings, 23, was found dead on Jan. 21 in the bathroom of the family apartment. Authorities have charged her mother and half-brother in the case.
The victim's brother has criticized the county's Adult Protective Services because his sister suffered years of abuse.
Check back shortly after 9:30 to hear what sheriff's officials had to say.

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The murder and suspected torture of a disabled woman in North Collins has taken a dramatic turn.

We warn you: some of the charges announced are graphic and disturbing.

Erie County Sheriff's investigators called this one of the most gruesome, brutal murders they have ever seen. A small, frail young woman with mental and physical disabilities was tortured and murdered at the hands of her own mother and brother.

An Erie County grand jury has indicted Eva Cummings and her 31-year-old son Luke Wright for the torture, sexual assault, and murder of Cummings' 23-year-old daughter Laura. Investigators say Laura's mother sodomized her with a broomstick, before choking her with her bare hands, while her older brother, Luke, burned her with scalding hot water and raped her.

Authorities found Laura's lifeless body in the family's first floor North Collins apartment on January 21.

Capt. Ron Kenyon, an investigator with the Erie County Sheriff's office, said, "All the detectives involved, myself included, I start 30 years, next year, and we have never seen anything quite as horrific as what we have seen in this investigation."

Investigators say Laura Cummings' abuse dates as far back as 1995 when the family was under the supervision of Child Protective Services and the courts. But Laura's brother Richard Cummings is angry that his calls back in July, from his air base in North Carolina to Adult Protective Services when Laura was injured, were not heeded.

"And told them, you need to really investigate, and they just would not," said Richard.

Patricia Wright, an older sister who was sexually abused by her stepfather, got out of the apartment on Sherman Avenue and was taken in by another family when she was 13.

Patricia said, "What was that apartment like? Chaos. Almost like a... what we went through."

Trish believes her mother forced her older brother Luke into the brutal assault and murder of their sister.

"I don't want my mom ever getting out. She is a danger not only to herself, but to other people as well," said Patricia.

And District Attorney Frank Sedita says if convicted on all counts, Eva Cummings could get 83 years to life in prison. If convicted, Luke Wright faces 133 years to life. Their arraignment is set for Monday afternoon in Erie County Court.

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A mother and son from New York have been charged over the death of the woman's 23-year-old daughter who investigators said was repeatedly raped, beaten and scalded and had her face pushed into faeces.
An Erie County grand jury returned a multi-count indictment against 51-year-old Eva Cummings and her 31-year-old son, Luke Wright, both of North Collins outside Buffalo, in a case that was described by sheriff's captain Ronald Kenyon as "horrendous" and "beyond description".
Cummings was charged with second-degree murder for allegedly suffocating Laura Cummings, who suffered with mental health problems, at their home on January 21, following years of abuse.
Both mother and son face additional charges including predatory sexual assault, unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime and endangering a disabled person's welfare.
Both have been held without bail since their arrests on January 30. Arraignment in Erie County Court has been scheduled for Monday.
Laura Cummings was repeatedly tied to a chair, all night at times, for the last two years and often with a hood over her head, according to the indictment. She was sexually assaulted, forced to put her face in her own faeces, repeatedly beaten and was scalded with water at least twice before she died, the investigation found.
Wright is also charged with several sex offences, including raping his half-sister, District Attorney Frank Sedita's office said.
Following their arrests, Kenyon said investigators had found evidence of physical and mental abuse going back to 1995 and that the abuse had escalated in the months before her death.
The victim's 22-year-old brother told reporters he had been concerned about his sister's treatment and had called county social services agencies from his Air Force base in North Carolina in an unsuccessful attempt to get her removed from the home.
If convicted, Cummings faces a sentence of 83 years to life in prison. Her son faces a sentence of 133 years to life.

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An Erie County grand jury has indicted the mother and half brother of a mentally disabled North Collins homicide victim on multiple charges, including accusations of a hate crime and predatory sexual assault.

The grand jury Friday indicted Eva M. Cummings and her son, Luke J. Wright, on a total of 15 charges in connection with the suffocation death of Laura Cummings, 23, on Jan. 21.

Eva Cummings, 51, faces a second-degree murder charge, while her son, 31, is charged with five sexual assault charges. And both are accused of using a broomstick to sexually attack the young woman, according to the indictment papers.

Mother and son also are accused of unlawfully imprisoning Laura Cummings in the family's North Collins apartment — because of her mental disability.

"It's a hate crime because it's motivated in whole or substantial part by the belief or perception regarding the victim's disability," District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III said in announcing the indictment.

If convicted on all counts, Eva Cummings could face a possible sentence of 83 years to life on five charges, while her son could face 133 years to life on 10, prosecutors said.

The charges, based on extensive investigation by four Erie County sheriff's detectives and statements from both suspects, paint an extremely troubling portrait of the alleged abuse against the young woman who talked with a speech impediment, had difficulty swallowing food and was said to have a mental capacity of a pre-teenage girl.

Both mother and son are charged with unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a mentally disabled person.

Here are some of the specific acts listed in the indictment handed up by the grand jury late Friday morning:

• Laura Cummings was repeatedly tied to a chair in her home, often all night, for the last two years.

• A hood often was put over her head while she was tied to the chair.

• She was forced to put her face in her own waste at times.

• She was beaten repeatedly, both manually and with a blunt instrument.

• And she was scalded with hot water at least twice, in early January and on the day she died.

"This is a case of unspeakable degradation," Sedita said. "These defendants allegedly assaulted this mentally disabled girl in every way imaginable."

Senior Trial Counsel Thomas M. Finnerty from the district attorney's office tried to put the pattern of abuse and assault in perspective, referring to his 17 years as a prosecutor.

"It's the worst case I've ever seen," he said. "It's sadistic, and it's allegedly sustained over a long period of time."

The indictment states that some of the abuse goes back to the mid-1990s. Erie County sheriff's detectives and investigators from the district attorney's office seemed particularly troubled by the increasing wave of abuse in recent months.

"Starting in November, there's a significant escalation of her debasement as a human being," Finnerty said. "It was happening on a daily or nightly basis."

That was especially true of the unlawful imprisonment of Laura Cummings, in the weeks preceding her death.

"She's restrained more often than she's not," Sheriff's Capt. Ronald L. Kenyon said.

Sedita and Kenyon both praised Sheriff's Detectives Gregory McCarthy, Dennis Fitzgibbon, Matthew Noecker and Jack Graham.

"The efforts of the Sheriff's Department were dogged," Sedita said. "They didn't stop. They interviewed basically the whole town of North Collins."

The indictment charges Eva Cummings with murder, predatory sexual assault, assault, endangering the welfare of a mentally disabled person and unlawful imprisonment. Her son was charged with predatory sexual assault, incest, endangering the welfare, unlawful imprisonment and two counts each of assault, rape and criminal sexual act.

Cummings and Wright are expected to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Monday before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio.

Sedita was asked to describe the life that Laura Cummings led.

"What's worse than a prison?" he asked. "The victim's life was hell on earth."

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A good night for Laura Cummings meant being allowed to sleep on the kitchen floor in her family’s North Collins home.

Usually in the weeks leading up to her death, she was forced to sleep shackled to a metal chair with a sack over her face.

Days were even more nightmarish for the 23-year-old mentally disabled woman, who was held captive and brutalized, allegedly by her own mother and half brother, according to an Erie County Grand Jury indictment returned Friday.

Cummings’ short life ended Jan. 21 with a long, tortuous death and a trail of missed chances to get her to safety.

A grand jury indicted Cummings’ mother, Eva M. Cummings, 51, and her half brother, Luke J. Wright, 31, on charges related to the homicide, but authorities continued to be confounded by the apparent lack of community concern for the defenseless woman’s welfare.

“There were a lot of people who knew what was going on and said nothing, and that is a sad commentary on the human condition,” said District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III.

Clues and reports about mistreatment inside the apartment at 2052 Sherman Ave. popped up frequently over the years.

Siblings and other relatives said they called Child Protective Services and Adult Protective Services. Whispers floated around town, including at the food pantry, that Cummings was being tied up at home.

“This is the problem today — nobody wants to get involved,” added Caroline Lee, who lives down the street from the Cummings apartment.

The pantry was one of the few places in town where Laura Cummings, a petite woman with short brown hair who rarely made eye contact with people, was seen in public away from her home.

Lee called Laura Cummings’ younger brother, Richard, about the suspected abuse, and Richard contacted Erie County Adult Protective Services.

“They never went inside the household and they never filed for a warrant to go inside,” said Richard Cummings, who is serving in the Air Force and is stationed in North Carolina. “I’m wondering why .‚.‚. Adult Protective Services didn’t do anything about it.”

Instead, the abuse intensified over the last few months of Laura’s life, said investigators. “Starting in November, there’s a significant escalation of her debasement as a human being,” Senior Trial Counsel Thomas M. Finnerty of the DA’s Office said. “It was happening on a daily or nightly basis.”

Finnerty, who has prosecuted a number of heinous crimes in his 17 years in the DA’s office, called it “the worst case I’ve ever seen.”

“It’s sadistic, and it’s allegedly sustained over a long period of time,” he said.

That was especially true of the unlawful imprisonment of Laura Cummings, in the weeks preceding her death.

“She’s restrained more often than she’s not,” Sheriff’s Capt. Ronald L. Kenyon said.

At other times, she was treated as an inanimate object, draped with a blanket so that visitors who stopped by the apartment wouldn’t know she was there, according to authorities.

Eva Cummings and Luke Wright were indicted on a total of 15 charges in connection with the suffocation death of Laura Cummings. They are expected to be arraigned at 2 p.m. Monday before Erie County Court Judge Sheila A. DiTullio.

Eva Cummings faces a second-degree murder charge, while her son is charged with five sexual assault charges. Both are accused of using a broomstick to sexually attack the young woman, as well as forcing her to touch her own waste and scalding her with hot water, according to the indictment papers.

Mother and son also are accused of unlawfully imprisoning Laura Cummings because of her mental disability — an elevated hate crime charge.

“It’s a hate crime because it’s motivated in whole or substantial part by the belief or perception regarding the victim’s disability,” Sedita said.

Eva Cummings could face a possible sentence of 83 years to life on five charges, while her son could face 142 years to life on 10 charges, prosecutors said.

The charges, based on extensive investigation by four Erie County sheriff’s detectives and statements from both suspects, paint an extremely troubling portrait of the alleged abuse against the young woman who talked with a speech impediment, had difficulty swallowing food and was said to have the mental capacity of a pre-teenage girl.

Sedita and Kenyon praised sheriff’s Detectives Gregory McCarthy, Dennis Fitzgibbon, Matthew Noecker and Jack Graham.

“The efforts of the Sheriff’s Department were dogged,” Sedita said. “They didn’t stop. They interviewed basically the whole town of North Collins.”

Both mother and son are charged with unlawful imprisonment and endangering the welfare of a mentally disabled person.

“If the allegations are true, it is clear that the defendants did not treat Laura as a human being,” said Sedita. “In fact, if these allegations are true, one wonders if either one of them even considered Laura to be a human being.”

Laura Cummings’ tragic life might have gone in a different direction on several occasions, starting when she was a youngster, according to various sources.

As a child, she and other siblings were placed with foster families in Florida that tried unsuccessfully to adopt the children, said Patricia Wright, Laura’s half-sister.

The Cummings household, in North Collins and prior to that in Olean, was well-known to Child Protective Services in Erie and Cattaraugus counties, family members said.

Patricia Wright, 27, said she reported abuse to Erie County Child Protective Services and Erie County Family Court more than a decade ago.

“I stopped talking to them when I was 17 years old because there was nothing being done,” said Wright, who was legally adopted by a family friend and is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in forestry management. “I kept trying to tell them, ‘You need to get those kids out of there. And they said, ‘No there’s nothing we can do.’‚”

Patricia Wright said she was physically abused for years, resulting in a broken ankle and cracked vertebrae in her back.

“I would get hit with baseball bats, spoons — anything that mom could grab a hold of,” she said. “We got hurt every day. She didn’t take us to the hospital.”

She was even locked in a closet for a week, and her brother, Luke, sneaked her bread and water, she said.

After spending time at a facility for teenagers, Patricia Wright was legally adopted by Roland Grotke, a neighbor of her grandparents in East Otto.

She said she tried to return to the home and rescue Laura, but was rebuffed by her mother.

“I knew my Mom was kind of off upstairs,” said Patricia Wright. “I knew she was incapable of taking care of a person like Laura, who needed that extra help.”

Neither Richard Cummings nor Patricia Wright had been allowed to visit Laura Cummings in recent years, they said.

But other relatives were in regular contact with her, including another brother, Eddie Cummings, who lived in the house but is not a suspect in the abuse. Eddie Cummings, who left the house for work each morning by 7 a.m. and didn’t return until after 9 p.m., declined to speak with The News.

Sources said Joyce Landahl, a cousin of Eva Cummings who also is legal guardian of Eva Cummings’ youngest daughter, made regular visits to the Cummings home, along with a family friend named Sue.

“Everyone thinks I should’ve known more,” said Landahl. “I didn’t know what was going on. I wish I knew more, but I don’t know nothing.”

Landahl visited the house to drop off food, but didn’t go inside because she has difficulty climbing stairs, she said.

Eva Cummings could be verbally abusive to Laura, sometimes screaming at her daughter to clean up faster, said Landahl.

And when the children were younger, Landahl said she reported Eva Cummings on multiple occasions to Child Protective Services — for neglect, not abuse.

“She just wasn’t a good parent in that respect, but I never seen her hurt nobody,” said Landahl.

And Luke, she added, didn’t exhibit violent behavior, either.

“I never would’ve dreamed Lukey would do that. I can’t imagine it,” she said. “I never seen nothing abusive with him. Never, ever.”

Mark Engler, who owns the property where Laura was killed, often hired Luke Wright for odd jobs and was at the home the day of Laura’s death to pick up Luke.

“A lot of people are shocked I didn’t know more,” said Engler, of Angola. “But it was nothing for me to knock on the door and walk in, and I never saw anything unusual.”

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OMG, these animals are stark raving mad!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am livid over this. How could a mother sodomize anyone much less her own daughter? WTH????

I want the exact same treatment given to these monsters!!!!!!!!!

I cried when I read this. What will happen to them
will they get out on bail? like Shaniya's mother did recently? Will they get a slap on the wrist? Will the others who knew be able to live with themselves?
Will any social services that might have been able to help be held responsible? Will justice be served?
Is it ever in these cases?
At least, her pain and suffering is at an end and even though Im not a believer I said a pray for her that she will truly be in a better place and a prayer that her torturers will pay by being sent to a place that is hell on earth.

Both defense attorneys in the case of a mentally disabled North Collins homicide victim questioned the legitimacy of the statements their clients gave police and raised the issue Monday of whether they can get a fair trial.

The attorneys for Eva M. Cummings, 51, and her son, Luke J. Wright, 31, entered innocent pleas on a total of 15 counts in connection with the physical and sexual abuse that police say led to the suffocation death of Laura Cummings, 23, on Jan. 21.

Eva Cummings faces a second-degree murder charge in her daughter’s death, while Wright is charged with five sexual assault charges involving his half sister. Both are accused of using a broomstick to attack the young woman and of unlawfully imprisoning her in the family’s North Collins apartment — because of her mental disability.

Erie County Judge Sheila A. DiTullio sent both defendants back to jail without bail.

DiTullio also allowed video and still photographers into the courtroom, over the objections of the defense attorneys representing Eva Cummings and Wright.

“I believe that to date my client has been exposed to community scorn,” said Joseph J. Terranova, representing Eva Cummings. “It’s just not fair.”

John R. Nuchereno, Wright’s attorney, objected to the comments made by “untrained” people about the two suspects on public-comment sections of local media Web sites.

“It creates a volatile atmosphere,” he said. “It contaminates the potential jury pool.”

Senior Trial Counsel Thomas M. Finnerty, from the Erie County district attorney’s office, in arguing for no bail, told Di- Tullio that Eva Cummings gave sheriff’s deputies two written statements admitting her involvement, while Wright gave seven separate written statements.

Terranova, representing Cummings, suggested that he would question the competency of his client’s statements, while Nuchereno said the issue of Wright’s admitting to the crimes will be “hotly contested.”

Both suspects are charged with predatory sexual assault, first-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a mentally disabled person and unlawful imprisonment as a hate crime.

Eva Cummings also is charged with murder, while Wright faces an additional assault charge, two counts each of rape and criminal sexual act and one count of incest.

“If the allegations made by an Erie County grand jury are proven to be true in a court of law, this is as bad as it gets,” District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III told reporters outside the courtroom, saying that the young mentally disabled woman was “abused in every way imaginable.”

Reporters asked Sedita several times about the lack of action taken by social service agencies who were called about the abuse in the Cummings household. Sedita repeatedly replied that his office investigates criminal complaints and that he’s not aware of any criminal conduct by those agencies.

So why did Sedita attend the arraignment?

“I wanted to see the defendants in person,” he replied. “Every once in a while, there’s that case where you want to be in the courtroom and get a look at the people.”

Sedita declined to share his reaction to seeing the two defendants in person.http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/03/02/973972/defense-cries-foul-in-cummings.html

“I believe that to date my client has been exposed to community scorn,” said Joseph J. Terranova, representing Eva Cummings. “It’s just not fair.”

What is not fair is what they did to Laura.

I agree lock them both up. The charges for the son are not strong enough either. Boo Hoo - they always cry at the end dont they

artgal16 wrote:I agree lock them both up. The charges for the son are not strong enough either. Boo Hoo - they always cry at the end dont they

Yes, but they are crying for themselves.!@ I can barely read this, it really is a sad case that sticks with you.

Prosecutors said both admitted their crimes to Erie County Sheriff's Department investigators through written statements.
John Nuchereno, Wright's defense attorney, told Eyewitness News that his client may have signed the statements, but didn't understand them.
"He can't read," Nuchereno said.
Nuchereno said he is exploring several possible defense strategies for Wright, who he said was abused as a child and grew up in a "house of horrors" where violence and torture were the norm.

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Eva Cummings

Emotions beyond words Just wanted to register my disgust and anger over this crime. That poor child (I say child because she was never helped to grow up to her own level of maturity so she was still but a child at 23). (I noted the name is Cummings, any relation to the other Cummings family in Florida?)

No, TR, no relation that I know of.

I agree with Critter. This case sticks with you. It's unthinkable. How could anyone hurt a child, much less a mentally challenged child is beyond anything I can fathom!

Outrage is growing over the death of a disabled woman in North Collins.

Volunteers for the food pantry at Holy Spirit are working through the shock and disbelief of losing a needy family to a gruesome tragedy. Eva Cummings was a regular at the North Collins pantry, but now she and her 31-year-old son Luke Wright are charged with the brutal rape, sodomy, and murder of Cummings' 23-year-old daughter, Laura.

Just about every Wednesday, Eva Cummings would come to the pantry pulling a red wagon she pulled to pick up clothes and food for her kids. Sometimes she brought Laura. Folks told News 4 they had no idea what was going on over at that apartment on Sherman Avenue. The head of the food pantry, Don Schasel, told News 4, if they had only know, they would have done something.

"I would have contacted somebody. I really would've. We got the Sheriff's right next door down there and I would have contacted somebody," said Schasel.

But complaints of abuse were filed with Erie County Social Services to protect Laura Cummings, even by her brother in the Air Force, from his base in North Carolina, when Laura was injured. But friends of the family say caseworkers were not allowed into the Sherman Avenue apartment.

Social Services Commissioner Carol Dankert said, "We have to honor the homeowners' rights to refuse us entry and if we felt it was of enough concern, we could certainly contact law enforcement and seek their assistance. And that's something that we do on a fairly regular basis."

But caseworkers apparently did not think the Cummings case warranted intervention.

"Somebody dropped the ball," said Schasel.

There have now been two homicides and suicide at the house on Sherman Avenue in the last ten years and some are talking about tearing the house down. Jeff Tyler, a downstairs neighbor for ten years with his wife and two sons, told News 4 he's not waiting around.

"I've been looking to find a house and get out of here altogether, but it has nothing to do with what's been going on. I mean, that kind of fueled the fire to make me want to get out of here quicker, but," said Tyler.

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Just when I think I have heard the "worst"... along comes another! This story is just so disgusting & awful that I hardly have the words to express myself. This "mother"'s only interest in this poor girl was for financial gain - she must have been receiving monthly cheques from the government? It is just so sad that she was left with these two psychos!!

I also have a hard time believing that no one in the building was aware of the abuse! What about "Jeff Tyler, a downstairs neighbor for ten years..." ? Surely he must have heard something! We all need to be more aware of those around us, esp. when defenceless children & handicapped adults are involved.

Rainbow said:

I also have a hard time believing that no one in the building was aware of the abuse! What about "Jeff Tyler, a downstairs neighbor for ten years..." ? Surely he must have heard something! We all need to be more aware of those around us, esp. when defenceless children & handicapped adults are involved.

There are so many people out there that turn the other cheek, don't get involved for whatever reasons. People like that make me sick!!

It was a local tragedy that provoked endless questions.
How could it happen? Why didn’t anyone know? Why didn’t anyone speak up? Why didn’t the authorities take action?
Yet amid the intense furor over the stunning death of North Collins’ Laura Cummings, there is one question that has not been asked. A question that, to me, seems more essential than the rest. What sort of upbringing formed the distorted personality of Laura’s tormentor — her own mother, Eva Cummings?
In the Village of North Collins, where Laura’s tortured life played out, questions about her mother are answered with disturbing details. Eva Cummings was allegedly raised in a home where physical, mental and sexual abuse was a way of life. There are even suggestions that abuse at the hands of her father and brother led to pregnancies in her young life. If such is the case, then the fact that she grew into a woman of distorted standards is not surprising on any level.
What is stunning is the fact that incestuous and physical abuse seemingly ran rampant in Eva Cumming’s family, without roadblocks to correct or prevent the heinous evil. Even more alarming is that the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association and various child abuse organizations report that childhood abuse is an accepted way of life and has been for generations.
Current statistics on child abuse range widely from 5 to 40 percent of all children in the United States. The reason for the dramatic variation, according to officials from the National Center on Child Abuse and Neglect, is that the number of cases reported each year to Child Protective Services is small compared with the number of actual cases.
Acknowledging that reality, here are current statistics based on reliable information from the above noted sources.
• There are 1.7 million acts of reported child abuse each year.
• Approximately 1,500 children die from abuse and 140,000 children are injured.
• An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 new cases of childhood sexual abuse occur each year, with guesstimates that one in four women in North America were molested in their childhood and approximately one in seven males sexually molested before the age of 18. About half of these incidents were directly incestuous, suffered at the hands of family members. The other half were usually with non-family members, but in 80 percent of the cases occurred with the complicity of caretakers.
Thus the questions bear repeating. How can this happen? Why doesn’t anyone know? Why doesn’t anyone speak up? Why don’t the authorities take action?
Authorities state that the challenge researchers and government agencies face in trying to combat such abhorrent behavior is that people won’t or can’t talk about it and won’t take legal action against it. As a result, childhood abuse is impossible to combat. As it would seem in the case of the Cummings, the evil acts become a protected, secret and accepted family pattern.
If stories about Eva Cumming’s childhood are accurate, then she endured a tormented life just like her daughter. And while that in no way admonishes the accused mother for the evil she purportedly fostered upon her children, it does bring a different dimension to this wretched tale. It also raises the truly significant question relative to Laura Cumming’s death — is it possible this tragedy could encourage those who have suffered childhood abuse or those aware of someone trapped in the same hell to step forward and tell?
For the sake of the more than 2 million children who are abused each year, and in recognition of the heartbreaking story of the Cummings, I hope that answer is yes.

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Very interesting, BJ! Although this does not excuse Eva Cummings from her terrible crime towards her own daughter, it does help me to have more of an understanding of how she turned into such a "monster". The cycle of childhood abuse is such a tragedy that needs to be stopped!!

Mother and son both headed to court

A trial date is now set for the North Collins mother accused of torturing her mentally disabled daughter to death.



A hearing this morning set an October 18th trial date for 51 year-old Eva Cummings.

Cummings is charged with second degree murder in the suffocation of 23-year old Laura Cummings.

31 year-old Luke Wright, the victim's brother, is charged with raping her.

Both are accused of torturing the young woman and unlawful imprisonment.

The two pleaded not guilty to all the charges earlier this month.

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The digital photos on Terrie Prime's computer screen recall happier times in North Collins.

In the pictures, Richard and Eddie Cummings wear wide smiles as they admire elaborate birthday cakes baked by Prime, who hosted annual celebrations for the brothers in her home.

Prime wasn't alone in lending a generous hand to members of the impoverished Cummings household. Over the years, neighbors donated furniture, clothes and plenty of food to Eva Cummings and her six children.

"We all did things," said Barb Chandler, who sent dishes of pasta over to the family and invited Eva Cummings into her home. "It's a nice, friendly town. All of us helped them."

Village residents said they're devastated by the horrifying abuse and death of Laura Cummings, 23, who was killed Jan. 21 in the Sherman Avenue apartment where the Cummings family lived for the past 18 years.

Eva Cummings, Laura's mother, and Luke J. Wright, Laura's half-brother, were charged in connection with the abuse and homicide. The two were indicted Feb. 26 on a total of 15 charges and are being held without bail in the Erie County Holding Center.

The North Collins community faces its own indictment in the grand jury of public opinion — especially after sheriff's investigators and the Erie County District Attorney's Office questioned whether residents could have done more to assist Laura Cummings.

The remarks struck a sensitive chord with members of this tightly knit community of 1,000 people — many of whom are part of generations of families that have spent their entire lives within the village's one square mile.

Residents have been sifting through their own histories with the Cummings family to see if they missed warning signs about the mistreatment of Laura, who struggled with disabilities and had the mental capacity of an 8-year-old.

"It is one of those tragedies that really has asked each and every one of us to look at ourselves and ask, "How could this have possibly occurred?' " said John Mrozek, the village mayor.

At the same time, villagers believe law enforcement authorities and out-of-town commentators who know little about North Collins have unfairly maligned their well-meaning community as indifferent and uncaring.

"We're torn, we're hurt, and then to read on the Internet what bad people we are and things like that — it's even more hurtful," said Lynn Maciejewski, a member of the North Collins Emergency Squad.

Maciejewski is helping to organize an event on April 9 called "Laura's Legacy" as the village's community response to Laura's death.

A candlelight vigil and short march, followed by guest speakers, is planned. In addition, residents are trying to set up a "safe house" for teenagers in memory of Laura.

Thanks to its productive farms and proximity to a railroad line, the village of North Collins was a center for the canning industry decades ago. It's now primarily a quiet bedroom community for professionals, employees of two nearby state prisons and a smattering of migrant workers.

Shattered tranquility

But the tranquility has been shattered over the years by a few high-profile crimes.

In 1977, Sheriff's Deputy William R. Dils, 52, was fatally shot when he went to a migrant worker's Sherman Avenue apartment as part of a routine stolen-property investigation.

The apartment building was located a few doors away from the Cummings apartment. It has since been torn down.

The building where the Cummings family lived was the site of an earlier homicide. Jose Fontanes, 67, was found beaten to death in a 2003 robbery; two men are in state prison serving sentences in connection with the crime. Residents said a young man committed suicide in one of the apartments within the past couple of years, as well.

"It's like there's ghosts in that house killing people," said Kathy Bauer, who owns a pizzeria on Main Street in the village.

The condition of the building, owned by Mark Engler of Angola, has irked residents for years.

"The house now is the issue," said Thomas O'Boyle, supervisor of the town of North Collins, who lives nearby on Sherman Avenue, an otherwise quaint village street of mostly older homes. "It needs to cleared out and it needs to be fixed up. It's a dump."

The two homicides inside the house, along with its outward appearance, have overshadowed the village's true character as a community of neighbors committed to helping each other, O'Boyle said.

"I believe the whole town is tainted because of one house," he said.

O'Boyle and others also objected to District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III's characterization that "there were a lot of people who knew what was going on and said nothing."

"If I had known or any of my neighbors would have known, something would have been done," he said.

One neighbor, Kimberly Lee, said she observed some rough treatment of Laura by her mother, but not enough to be classified as abuse.

Rumors of mistreatment

Eva Cummings, said Lee, rarely let her daughter out of her sight. The mother claimed that her daughter had been molested in the past, and she feared it would happen again, Lee said.

"She used to snatch [Laura] up by her hair every so often if she was outside and not supposed to be outside," said Lee.

Lee and other village residents said Laura received daily visits from two women, Joyce Landahl and Susan Williams, who would have had a much closer look at how the young woman was being treated.

Rumors of Laura's mistreatment circulated at the town food pantry, one of the few places where she was seen in public.

But Margaret Mackey, who volunteers at the pantry, said the young woman rarely spoke and usually wore long sleeves and mittens when she came to pick up food with her mother.

Whatever neighbors saw of the family outside, none of them had an inside view of what was happening — a responsibility of Adult Protective Services, which didn't follow through, said O'Boyle.

The county agency was contacted by Laura's brother, Richard, who lives in North Carolina and pleaded with investigators to check on his sister after he heard she was not being cared for properly.

"They should've gone in there. I blame them more than anyone in North Collins for that woman's death," O'Boyle said.

Through the cracks

Few people in the village even realized Laura lived in the house until after her death.

More than 100 people showed up for her wake — with most saying they had never seen Laura before, according to Gary Wentland, who owns a funeral home on Main Street.

"Most people that walked through here said they never knew she existed, but they came," Wentland said. "I had never seen her before. How she fell through the cracks of the system, I have no idea."

Wentland handled arrangements for the wake, funeral and cremation, even though he isn't sure he'll get reimbursed for the work.

Another North Collins resident donated an outfit so that Laura's body could be properly viewed.

The North Collins American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts donated money to help Richard Cummings, a member of the Navy, fly home from his base in North Carolina for his sister's funeral.

"While we were all aware of the limitations of the family, we didn't know about the violence that was happening," said Lloyd Quiter, a Vietnam War veteran who helped arrange the donation. "Inside the village, we're just as shocked as anyone, probably more so. It's hard to fathom how something like that could happen in this town."

Just a 'poor family'

While Laura wasn't well known, most of the village was familiar with siblings Richard and Edward, who mowed lawns, shoveled walks and driveways and did other odd jobs for cash since they were boys.

Authorities have said they found evidence of abuse inside the apartment at 2052 Sherman Ave. going as far back as 1995.

But residents said the Cummings boys always were hardworking and respectful, and their interactions with people gave no indication something was amiss at home.

"The kids were fine. They never complained. They looked healthy. They never smelled bad," said Prime.

Prime and some other village residents knew Richard especially well, because he was so outgoing and friendly.

"He never let on, never was sad, always had a smile," said Prime, who regularly cooked breakfast for Richard on Saturday mornings over a four- or five-year period.

Prime's neighbor, Judy Stevens, said the community always looked out for the Cummings household.

"We saw a very poor family and we saw children who were extremely respectful and well behaved," said Stevens. "We saw things that were family-like with them. We never saw anything evil going on."

"We reacted as a community based on what we saw. I never saw anything but a poor family," she said.http://www.buffalonews.com/2010/03/21/994395/a-murder-in-their-midst.html

This is the story of the all too short life, and all too horrific death of 23-year-old Laura Cummings.



A 2 On Your Side investigation has found that the very county system which was supposed to protect Laura Cummings, failed her time after time after time.

Scott Brown: "Was Laura raped by her brother?"

District Attorney Frank Sedita: "Allegedly she was raped by her brother."

Scott Brown: "Was she beaten?"

Frank Sedita: "There are allegations in the indictment to that effect."

Scott Brown: "Is it fair to say she was tortured?"

Frank Sedita: "If the allegations are proved to be true, yes."

"Laura Cummings shouldn't have died and she did," said Erie County Sheriff's Captain Ron Kenyon.

2 On Your Side has learned that over the last seven months of Laura Cummings' life, Erie County's Protective Services Division was contacted six different times with reports that Laura was being abused by family members.

Every single one of those reports was investigated by the county, and deemed unfounded.

According to her own children, Eva Cummings' home was not a home at all, but a house of horrors.

Imagine the worst, most horrific examples of child abuse, and members of the District Attorney's office and Sheriff's Department say that doesn't even come close to what went on for years inside the house at 2052 Sherman Avenue in North Collins.

"My mother's temper, I mean she was angry all the time, so her having children was the wrong thing because she can't deal with kids. She can't even deal with her own life," said Laura's older sister, Tricia Wright.

Eva Cummings had six children with three different men.

The youngest, Crystal was raised outside of the home by an aunt. Luke the oldest, has been charged in Laura's murder. The three other surviving children tell us they were all repeatedly beaten by Eva Cummings. "If we got out of line and didn't do the dishes correctly, or mop the floor correctly or something like that we would get beat," said Tricia Wright.

Scott Brown: "And beat how?"

Tricia Wright: "Well for example, I got pushed down the stairs when I was little because I didn't do the dishes correctly."

Tricia tells us that after she repeatedly physically fought back against her mother, her mother had her removed from the home when she was 12 and placed in foster care. And although Laura's sister and brothers tell us they were repeatedly beaten, they say that Laura, who was both mentally and physically challenged, got the worst of it by far.

In Eva Cummings' house, it was every child for him or herself, just trying to survive was the priority.

Three of Eva Cummings' children tell us that if any of them tried to help another, or spoke to anyone about what was going on inside the house, they would be beaten some more and threatened with being thrown out of the house.

Scott Brown: "Did you witness Laura being abused or beaten?"

Edward Cummings, Laura's brother: "Yes I have. She was being hit, she was pretty much being tortured. It was a way that nobody should have done to them, I can't even describe it because that's how bad it was. It was tragic for me to see it, but it was my mother's house so pretty much I was forced to shut my mouth about it too."

Tricia Wright: "I don't think my mother considered her to be a human being at all. Laura was handicapped, she couldn't deal with somebody like that. She can't deal with crying, she can't deal with handicapped people, she can't."

Richard Cummings: "My mother personally would just get a hold of anything and hit her with it. She was punching her, she was hitting her, grabbing rolling pins, pot, pans, anything. I didn't really know what to do because I was in the household and if I did anything, they were going to do something to me. I felt bad for Laura all these years."

Richard Cummings says he was kicked out of the house by his mother when he was in his teens. He then went to live with Carol Lee, who had raised a number of foster children in North Collins.

Richard joined the Air Force about 18 months ago and is now stationed in North Carolina. He was the closest in age to Laura, and family friends tell us, the most protective of her.

The beginning of the end of Laura Cumming's life came last June, when Richard received a call from his youngest sister Crystal.

Crystal told him that Laura had a severe, deep cut on her arm.

Richard then called North Collins Town Justice John Stevens. Richard used to cut his lawn, and asked Stevens to call the county.

"On Richard's behalf I called as the Town Justice, I called Protective Services, and said there's a concern for Laura and they said they would investigate," said Stevens.

About two weeks later, on July 9th, Stevens received a letter from Child Protective Services saying that his call about the suspected abuse of Laura was "unfounded."

Scott Brown: "What was your reaction to that, were you skeptical?"

Judge John Stevens: "Richard was adamant that something was going on. We talked afterward and he was very, very uncomfortable."

At this point, Laura would have six months to live.

Then about two months later in September, Laura was seen with her mother at the local food pantry by Carol Lee, the woman who had taken Richard in.

"Laura was there and her face was all cut up and it looked like someone just punched her and her arms and hands were cut up. That's when I went home and called Richard," said Lee.

Once more, Richard Cummings called Judge Stevens. "He called again, and said his sister had bruises on her, on her face and her arms, would I please call again," said Stevens.

This time, after finding out that Laura was 23 years old, Stevens called the County's Adult Protective Services Division.

"I talked to one of the supervisors there, and they said within three days they would make an inquiry. They did, they went out to the house. I got a phone call here saying they went out and they deemed any abuse charges to be unfounded, said Stevens.

Laura would be dead in four months.

"I found that they interviewed the aunt, interviewed Eva Cummings, the mother, the mom, and interviewed Laura, but they did that in front of the house, they never entered the house. I asked them why and they said well unless we're invited, we're never allowed in the house," said Stevens.

But that's not true. Under state law, if social workers are not given permission to go inside a home, they can go to court to try and get an order to get inside, or they can call law enforcement.

Apparently, in Laura Cumming's case, the county which has refused comment, did neither.

Scott Brown: "If Social Services had contacted your department and said we're not being given voluntary access to the home, would you have jumped in on the case?"

Sheriff's Captain Ron Kenyon: "Yeah, I believe we would have, given that generic question, because it happens all the time, it's a common thing. To my knowledge that call never came. By no means am I trying to shed any negative light on them, because they've got a tough job, I don't know their job."

After the first two calls to Social Services by Judge Stevens, Richard then started calling Adult Protective Services directly.

"I called them five or six times last year and they never went inside the house. They went there, they seen the marks on Laura, they just never did anything about it," said Richard.

"They were never in the house, if they did, they would have found everything," said Edward Cummings.

Experts tell 2 On Your Side there were at least four warning signs concerning Laura's condition. First, a child, Laura's older sister, had already been removed from the house. Second, Social Services workers never went inside the home. Third, Laura was never spoken to outside of the presence of her mother. Fourth, the calls being made on Laura's behalf were from credible sources- a town judge and Laura's brother.

"There were some obvious red flags that should have been waving like crazy out there. I just don't see how in good conscience they could leave her in that situation," said Judge Stevens.

The Sheriff's Department and the D.A.'s office say that over the last three months of her life, the abuse Laura was suffering --physical, sexual, and emotional -- increased dramatically.

"We've never seen anything quite as horrific as we've seen in this case," said Captain Kenyon. "The totality of what transpired there is beyond belief."

There was one last call made to Adult Protective Services last year in either late November or early December, alleging for the sixth time that Laura was being abused.

In response to that call, on December 10th, about six weeks before Laura was killed, a letter addressed to Laura herself, arrived at the home on Sherman Avenue.

It said: "This is to advise you that the Department of Social Services has determined that you are not eligible for Protective Services for Adults at this time. The reason for this decision is: an investigation has determined that you have no unmet needs nor are at risk of harm."

On January 21st, the Sheriff's Department received a phone call, it would be the last call made to authorities about Laura Cummings.

The torture of Laura Cummings was over.

Scott Brown: "Have you ever seen anything like this in terms of the brutality?"

Captain Ron Kenyon: "No, no. Not only was there brutality that the young lady suffered, she suffered brutality in what should have been her safe place, her home."

Richard Cummings: "The system failed and they never did anything about it."

Scott Brown: "Is it your belief that Laura's death could have and should have been prevented?"

Judge John Stevens: "Yes. Should have been prevented and she should've been taken out of there. What a shame, what a shame."

Scott Brown: "The Social Service system is supposed to protect people like Laura, did they fail in their job?"

D.A. Frank Sedita: "I'm not going to answer that question. Certainly I have my feelings in that regard, I have my opinions in that regard, but in the course of my duties as a professional prosecutor, it would not be wise and not be appropriate for me to publicly answer that question."

In declining our requests for interviews, the county issued this statement: "State Social Services Law prohibits Erie County from acknowledging or discussing any current or closed Child or Adult Protective Services case. The Department of Social Services routinely reviews its practices, and if it is determined that an employee did not follow proper protocol, corrective and/or disciplinary action is taken."

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She lived and died in what many call a house of horrors.

Prosecutors say, Laura Cummings was abused by members of her own family for most of her life, so why didn't anyone intervene?

Sheriff's investigators called the brutal murder of 23-year-old Laura Cummings "horrific," from the very beginning.

They found the quiet North Collins woman with mental and physical challenges had been abused most of her life, but those who knew and loved Laura are baffled that county Social Services would not intervene as this tragedy unfolded.

An apartment on Sherman Avenue is where 23-year-old Laura Cummings spent most of her life, described as a tortured life, which ended brutally and savagely on January 21.

The bathroom is where authorities found Laura's body.

Family friend Carol Lee said, "She was laying on the floor, and they found her, and they said all she had was a t-shirt on."

Some have likened the apartment to a chamber of horrors because of the abuse Laura and her siblings endured and suffered at the hands of their mother, Eva Cummings, who is now charged with Laura's murder.

Luke Wright, the oldest brother is charged with raping, sodomizing, and murdering his sister.

"Almost like a living hell. No child should ever have to go through what we went through," said older sister Patricia Wright.

Patricia was sexually assaulted by Laura's father.

Patricia, her siblings, and other families who helped raise them are angry that authorities didn't save Laura.

They specifically blame Erie County's Department of Social Services, which was involved when they were children and pleaded with Adult Protection Services to remove Laura, after brother Richard Cummings, an airman stationed in North Carolina, learned she was seriously injured.

Richard said, "And told them you need to really investigate this because I know there is something going on in that house, and they just would not do anything. They said they needed a warrant to go inside the house to do anything."

Richard sounded the alarm to North Collins judge, John Stevens who alerted Social Services, twice.

Judge Stevens said, "I got a phone call a few days later that said they could not find any evidence of abuse, and that the charges were unfounded."

Laura's family and friends have been told, when caseworkers investigated those complaints, they never even went into the Sherman Avenue apartment.

When News 4 asked Social Services Commissioner Carol Dankert how far caseworkers went with their investigation, back in February, she told us, state law does not allow her to discuss the case.

Commissioner Dankert said, "We certainly would ask for access, but if the homeowner did not want us to enter the premises, at that point in time with the initial visit, we would not."

But Rhonda Frederick, the chief operating officer for People, Inc. told us, if there was any doubt about the need for intervention, county officials could bring in the state.

"That if they suspected the individual they were interviewing or looking at had a developmental disability that they would contact OMRDD to come in and do an investigation," said Frederick.

How critical was checking out those living conditions?

"I wish they would have gone in. I think the apartment would have told a lot about the living conditions, and about what was going on," Stevens said.

Eva Cummings and her son Luke Wright are set for trial on murder, rape, and sodomy charges, this October.

Have county legislators weighed in on this tragedy?

Yes. Thomas Mazur told us, he has invited Commissioner Carol Dankert to discuss this case as much as she can at his Health and Human Services Committee, next week.

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This is completely outrageous!! I really hope that, besides the obvious criminals (the victim's "mother" and "brother"), someone in the Social Services is held accountable for this poor girl's tortured life & death. There is absolutely NO REASON why she was left to suffer at the hands of those two monsters!! This is totally unacceptable, and I hope the judge comes down hard on those responsible for her death.

2 On Your Side has learned that over the last seven months of Laura Cummings' life, Erie County's Protective Services Division was contacted six different times with reports that Laura was being abused by family members.

Every single one of those reports was investigated by the county, and deemed unfounded.

That about says it all, doesn't it?

This thread is very, very difficult to read. I look at the picture of that poor gal and I wonder what went through her mind. For the love of God, she is even smiling in that picture!!!

The suspected torture and death of a disabled woman in North Collins is generating more outrage. An agency that fell under scrutiny since Laura Cummings' death was a no-show at a meeting with lawmakers.

Erie County's Department of Social Services was virtually the legal guardian for Laura Cummings and her five siblings, as children, and should have continued, even as they became adults. But somehow Laura, who was mentally and physically challenged, got lost in the shuffle, and county lawmakers are trying to find out why.

The Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee wanted some answers from Commissioner Carol Dankert, but committee chairman Thomas Mazur says he learned just prior to the meeting, Dankert was out of town.

Mazur said, "I'm a little dismayed about the whole thing about the whole thing because I believe in the legislative branch and the executive branch, and working in tandem."

Authorities found Laura Cummings' body on the bathroom floor of her North Collins home, back in January, and charged her mother Eva Cummings and brother Luke Wright with murder, sodomy and rape. Their investigation also revealed Laura and her five siblings had been abused for more than 15 years, and they had been removed by Child Protective Services on several occasions.

But despite pleadings by a younger brother and a town judge that Laura was being abused as an adult, the county's Protective Services for Adults chose not to intervene, which could have saved her life.

Richard Cummings said, "And told them you need to really investigate this because I know there is something going on in that house, and they just would not do anything."

Lawmakers wanted to find out from social services, what went wrong.

"If they think anything is necessary to stop this from happening in the future, then we're here to help, and that is as simple as that," explained Mazur.

But Grant Loomis, spokesman for County Executive Chris Collins told News 4 in a written statement that state law prohibits the county from discussing any current or closed Protective Services case. However, Commissioner Dankert is committed to discussing practices and protocols, with the Legislature, in the appropriate setting.

Mazur says lawmakers want to discuss, "primarily, is something broken? Can we fix it? How can we help as a legislative body?"

Legislator Mazur told News 4 that he will try again to get Commissioner Dankert to meet with his committee. Mazur adds he would consider closing the hearing to the public by going into executive session if it would help protect Erie County's most vulnerable residents.

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