The victims.
The killers Cummings and Broadnax.
Posted on 01/21/2011 7:35:37 AM PST by SwinneySwitch
The families of Steve Swan and Matthew Butler didn’t get to tell their sons’ killer exactly what they thought of him.
After a Dallas County jury convicted Demarius Cummings on Thursday of capital murder with an automatic sentence of life without parole, bailiffs attempted to drag the 22-year-old man back to the courtroom to hear victim impact statements.
But Cummings’ screaming and cursing as he struggled with at least four bailiffs led State District Judge Mike Snipes to declare it wasn’t safe for Cummings to return to the courtroom. The families and jurors looked horrified and nervous as they tearfully watched bailiffs pull Cummings back to a cell adjacent the courtroom.
Instead of addressing Cummings, the families stood in front of the jury box, thanking jurors and telling stories about Swan, 26, and Butler, 28.
“It will never bring my son back or Steve back, but I can’t thank you enough,” Butler’s mother, Theresa Butler told jurors. “I can never repay you for what you did.”
The men were killed in 2008 outside Butler’s Christian music recording studio in Garland. James Broadnax, who fired the shots that killed the men, was sentenced to death in 2009.
Cummings urged Broadnax to “pop” the men during a robbery that netted $2 and Swan’s car. Cummings was convicted based on jurors’ belief that he either intended or should have anticipated the violence.
Tears fell from jurors’ and family members’ eyes as Theresa Butler; Swan’s parents, Craig and Jean Swan; and Swan’s sister, Deborah Swan, told funny stories and shared loving memories about the men. Their words came so fast, it was impossible at times to determine who was talking.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Prayers up.
If he starts up again, take him outside and pacify him again, repeat as necessary.
They should have put duct tape over his mouth, kicked him in the balls and made him listen to the victim impact statements.
The victims.
The killers Cummings and Broadnax.
Agreed.
— Cummings’ screaming and cursing as he struggled with at least four bailiffs
Mentally Evil.
They should record the family members’ statements and play them 24 hours a day in the thug’s cell until he dies.
I understand the impulse to robbery. I don’t have money, but I can get it from someone else by stealing it from them. What I don’t understand is the impulse to “pop” someone during a robbery. Are they that stupid to think that a) they’re going to get away with it or b) the crimes are close to equal?
Shock belt.
Frontier justice would have been applicable here.
God rest the victims and peace to the families.
That looks like a “hate crime” to me.
I am sure the left will come to his defense, they always like killers it seems.
Are there no gags and chains in Dallas?
In a word: Yes
You got that right.
Agree!!!
No real justice here. This is the type of person for which the death penalty is appropriate.
Tasers work.
I had the same thought.
Demarius Cummings
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