NORFOLK — A judge on Friday ordered sanity and competency evaluations for a man charged with killing his grandmother in a senior living facility, and denied bond for the man’s mother, who’s accused of helping him.
Clifton Cummings, 24, and Heather Cummings, 53, were scheduled for bond hearings Friday, but Clifton Cummings’ court-appointed attorney, J.D. Garrett, withdrew his request. Instead, Garrett asked Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations Judge Michael A. Beverly to order competency and sanity evaluations for his client.
The pair are charged with second-degree murder and conspiracy in the death of Cleo Loizides. The 81-year-old was the mother of Heather Cummings and grandmother of Clifton Cummings.
Loizides was found in her room at Commonwealth Senior Living at Leigh Hall, an assisted living and nursing facility on Poplar Hall Drive, shortly before midnight June 30.
An employee making rounds noticed Loizides was pale and cold to the touch, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Victoria Kapper told the judge. Medics were called and Loizides was pronounced dead minutes later, Kapper said. The last time she had been seen alive was around 5 p.m. that day, when employees saw her walking the halls and getting something to eat, the prosecutor said.
Heather and Clifton Cummings were arrested Tuesday and have been held without bond in the city jail since.
Criminal complaints filed this week said both confessed to the slaying. The documents said Heather Cummings told detectives she held her mother down by her hands, while Clifton Cummings strangled her with a strap on a bag he had with him. The documents also said Heather Cummings told her mother to “just let go, it’s for the best” while the older woman fought for her life.
No alleged motive was included in the documents, nor was one mentioned Friday.
Heather Cummings was brought into court Friday in a wheelchair. Assistant Public Defender Oksana LaBounty told the judge she’s been diagnosed with a variety of health problems, including Crohn’s disease and arthritis. She’s on disability and is supported by her husband, who’s retired, LaBounty said.
Heather Cummings was born and raised in Norfolk, but she and her husband have been living in Hobart, Indiana, for many years, LaBounty said. She has no prior criminal record.
Heather Cummings came to Norfolk about two weeks ago to assist her mother, the defense lawyer said. She and her son were staying at a home on Stockley Gardens in Norfolk’s Ghent area that Loizides owned, LaBounty said. If granted bond, she would live there, the lawyer said.
Kapper asked the judge to deny bond, arguing that Heather Cummings was a flight risk and a danger to the community. Beverly agreed and ordered that she remain jailed while she awaits trial. The next court date for Cummings and her son is a preliminary hearing scheduled for Sept. 23.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
