SUMNER COUNTY – An investigation the TBI and the Sumner County Sheriff’s Office, with the assistance of the Westmoreland Police Department, the Gallatin Police Department, the Portland Police Department, and the Tennessee Highway Patrol has resulted in the arrest of a man charged in connection to the murder of seven people and critical injuries to an eighth victim at two different locations in Sumner County last month.

At the request of 18th District Attorney General Ray Whitley, on April 27th, TBI Special Agents began investigating the circumstances surrounding the homicides of seven individuals in Sumner County, along with the officer-involved shooting of the suspect in the set of crimes. Authorities responding to an initial 911 call from a family member found the bodies of six individuals in a home in the 1100 block of Charles Brown Road. Another victim, who was alive but injured, was transported and continues to be treated at an area hospital. Authorities later learned of a second scene, a short distance away in the 1500 block of Luby Brown Road, where they discovered another deceased individual.

The deceased victims have been identified as:

  • David Carl Cummins (DOB: 10/31/1967)
  • Clara Jane Cummins (DOB: 12/06/1974)
  • Charles Edward Hosale (DOB: 09/22/1973)
  • Rachel Dawn McGlothlin-Pee (DOB: 11/11/1975)
  • Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee (DOB: 05/19/2006)
  • Marsha Elizabeth Nuckols (DOB: 04/19/1955)
  • Shirley B. Fehrle (DOB: 12/22/1949)

During the course of the investigation, authorities developed information leading to Michael Cummins (DOB: 09/08/1993) as the suspect in the crimes. During the coordinated search by law enforcement agencies from across the region, TBI employed its aircraft and located, in a creek bed approximately one mile from the first scene, indications of an individual. More than a dozen law enforcement officers from the county’s joint SWAT Team went to that location, where they encountered Cummins. The situation escalated, for reasons under investigation, and resulted in at least one officer firing his service weapon, striking Cummins.

On Friday, Cummins was discharged from the hospital, after which Agents charged him with six counts of First Degree Murder, one count of Criminal Homicide, one count of Attempt to Commit First Degree Murder, and one count of Theft. Cummins was transported to the Sumner County Jail where he was processed. He is currently being held in the Tennessee Department of Corrections Special Needs Unit.

Published by Josh DeVine