Hate-slaying suspect: I did it for God
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How many more murders like this will it take until they pass the Matthew Shepard Act and sign it into law? And for that matter, what will it take for religions to lose the homophobia? Seriously.
Hate-slaying suspect: I did it for God
Friday, July 27, 2007 / 01:09 PM
SUMMARY: The Texas slaying has the opposite effect, prompting an outpouring of mourning for Southwest Airlines flight attendant Kenneth Cummings Jr.
A Texas man charged in the slaying of Southwest Airlines flight attendant Kenneth Cummings Jr. said from jail that he was doing God's work when he went looking in Houston gay bars for a gay man to kill.
"Sexual perversion" is the "worst sin," Terry Mark Mangum told reporters July 21 from the Brazoria County jail where he awaits trial, explaining that he believed "with all my heart that I was doing the right thing" when he stabbed Cummings in the head with a six-inch knife.
Mangum is charged with murder with a hate-crime enhancement in the June 4 slaying.
Cummings' charred body was found days later on Mangum's grandfather's ranch near San Antonio.
Hours after Mangum's jailhouse gabfest, a Brazoria County judge slapped a gag order on the case.
The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, passed in 2001, allows for Texas crimes motivated by "sexual preference" to be prosecuted at the next highest level of severity, Paul Scott, executive director of Equality Texas, told Gay.com. That can mean more years at sentencing, a lesser chance of parole, or both, Scott said.
As of last week, Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne was not seeking the death penalty. Instead, she said she filed the hate-crime enhancement to reduce Mangum's likelihood of parole.
"I go with what I absolutely know the evidence will show," Yenne told the Brazoria County Facts newspaper.
A trail of Cummings' credit card receipts quickly led authorities to the suspect.
Ironically, the case has had the opposite effect of Mangum's stated intentions: It has prompted an outpouring of mourning and love for a gay man.
Cummings, 46, had worked for the airline for 24 years, and he was widely known and liked in Houston and beyond. When he was reported missing in early June -- he had called his sister to say he'd visit, but never arrived -- his Southwest co-workers volunteered to join in the search.
"We have people pulled from flights. They're not ready to go back yet," Stacey Martin of Transport Workers Union Local 566 told the Facts in mid-July. "Whether the fact he was gay or straight, he was a human being."
Kenneth Cummings Sr. learned of the discovery of his son's body around Father's Day.
"There was no reason for some maniac to do something like that to him," he told the Houston Chronicle. "He was unselfish and loving. He was passionate about his family, and he was a loving son who never once, ever, said anything disrespectful to me or his mother. He never missed a holiday, not a birthday or Christmas or even Grandparents Day."
He said his son had already started college funds for his 4-year-old niece and 18-month-old nephew.
"They were the joy of his life," he told the Chronicle. "He would try to make a friend if somebody got mad at him. He'd say, "Now wait a minute. This is not something we can't work out,' " he said. (Barbara Wilcox, The Advocate)
How many more murders like this will it take until they pass the Matthew Shepard Act and sign it into law? And for that matter, what will it take for religions to lose the homophobia? Seriously.
Hate-slaying suspect: I did it for God
Friday, July 27, 2007 / 01:09 PM
SUMMARY: The Texas slaying has the opposite effect, prompting an outpouring of mourning for Southwest Airlines flight attendant Kenneth Cummings Jr.
A Texas man charged in the slaying of Southwest Airlines flight attendant Kenneth Cummings Jr. said from jail that he was doing God's work when he went looking in Houston gay bars for a gay man to kill.
"Sexual perversion" is the "worst sin," Terry Mark Mangum told reporters July 21 from the Brazoria County jail where he awaits trial, explaining that he believed "with all my heart that I was doing the right thing" when he stabbed Cummings in the head with a six-inch knife.
Mangum is charged with murder with a hate-crime enhancement in the June 4 slaying.
Cummings' charred body was found days later on Mangum's grandfather's ranch near San Antonio.
Hours after Mangum's jailhouse gabfest, a Brazoria County judge slapped a gag order on the case.
The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, passed in 2001, allows for Texas crimes motivated by "sexual preference" to be prosecuted at the next highest level of severity, Paul Scott, executive director of Equality Texas, told Gay.com. That can mean more years at sentencing, a lesser chance of parole, or both, Scott said.
As of last week, Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne was not seeking the death penalty. Instead, she said she filed the hate-crime enhancement to reduce Mangum's likelihood of parole.
"I go with what I absolutely know the evidence will show," Yenne told the Brazoria County Facts newspaper.
A trail of Cummings' credit card receipts quickly led authorities to the suspect.
Ironically, the case has had the opposite effect of Mangum's stated intentions: It has prompted an outpouring of mourning and love for a gay man.
Cummings, 46, had worked for the airline for 24 years, and he was widely known and liked in Houston and beyond. When he was reported missing in early June -- he had called his sister to say he'd visit, but never arrived -- his Southwest co-workers volunteered to join in the search.
"We have people pulled from flights. They're not ready to go back yet," Stacey Martin of Transport Workers Union Local 566 told the Facts in mid-July. "Whether the fact he was gay or straight, he was a human being."
Kenneth Cummings Sr. learned of the discovery of his son's body around Father's Day.
"There was no reason for some maniac to do something like that to him," he told the Houston Chronicle. "He was unselfish and loving. He was passionate about his family, and he was a loving son who never once, ever, said anything disrespectful to me or his mother. He never missed a holiday, not a birthday or Christmas or even Grandparents Day."
He said his son had already started college funds for his 4-year-old niece and 18-month-old nephew.
"They were the joy of his life," he told the Chronicle. "He would try to make a friend if somebody got mad at him. He'd say, "Now wait a minute. This is not something we can't work out,' " he said. (Barbara Wilcox, The Advocate)