A database of news and information about people with disabilities and disability issues...
Copyright statement: Unless otherwise stated, all posts on this blog continue to be the property of the original author/publication/Web site, which can be found via the link at the beginning of each post.
BUFFALO, N.Y. -- An Erie County Grand Jury returned a multi-count indictment against 51-year-old Eva Cummings (pictured) and her son, 31-year-old Luke Wright on Feb. 26.
The two are charged with the following crimes, all of which were allegedly perpetrated against 23-year-old Laura Cummings, the mentally disabled daughter of Eva Cummings and sister of Luke Wright.
WARNING: The following charges contain graphic material.
Eva Cummings is charged with Murder in the Second Degree, after allegedly suffocating her daughter to death. She is also charged with Sexual Assault, after allegedly assaulting her daughter with a broom stick; Assault in the First Degree, where she allegedly scalded her daughter; Unlawful Imprisonment as a Hate Crime, wherein it is alleged that she unlawfully restrained her daughter because of her daughter's disability.
Cummings is also charged with Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent Person or Physically Disabled Person, where it is alleged that she knowingly acted in a manner likely to be injurious to her daughter's welfare by repeatedly beating her, repeatedly tying her to a chair, repeatedly placing a hood over her head, and repeatedly pushing her face into her own feces. If convicted, Eva Cummings faces a sentence of 83 years to life in prison.
Luke Wright is charged with Predatory Sexual Assault, Unlawful Imprisonment in the First Degree as a Hate Crime and Endangering the Welfare of an Incompetent Person or Physically Disabled Person.
It is alleged that Wright perpetrated the same or similar acts as his mother, Eva Cummings, against his sister.
Wright is also charged with several sex offenses, including Rape, Criminal Sexual Act and Incest, where it is alleged that he forcibly engaged in sexual acts with his mentally disabled sister.
If convicted, Luke Wright faces a sentence of 133 years to life in prison.
The defendants are scheduled to be arraigned on March 1, 2010 at 2:00 p.m.
Beth Haller, Ph.D., is Co-Director of the Global Alliance for Disability in Media and Entertainment (www.gadim.org). A former print journalist, she is a member of the Advisory Board for the National Center on Disability and Journalism (https://ncdj.org/). Haller is Professor Emerita in the Department of Mass Communication at Towson University in Maryland, USA. Haller is co-editor of the 2020 "Routledge Companion to Disability and Media" (with Gerard Goggin of University of Sydney & Katie Ellis of Curtin University, Australia). She is author of "Representing Disability in an Ableist World: Essays on Mass Media" (Advocado Press, 2010) and the author/editor of Byline of Hope: Collected Newspaper and Magazine Writing of Helen Keller (Advocado Press, 2015). She has been researching disability representation in mass media for 30+ years. She is adjunct faculty in the Disability Studies programs at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the University of Texas-Arlington.
From WKBW-TV:
