nephew, but his personal loss would help spark the debate for better gun control and the need for campus police forces at other universities such as John Hopkins. Cummings has been reported to have planned to follow in his uncle’s, Rep. Cummings, footsteps. CBS Baltimore reported that Cummings was an honors student, majoring in criminal justice. With a 3.5 GPA, he passed away as a junior hoping to become an attorney. ABC7 News reported that his friends remembered him as upbeat, protective, always really happy and great to be around. While three of the suspects currently awaiting trial have fairly innocuous rap sheets according to the Virginia Judiciary Online Case Information System, the fourth suspect currently awaiting trial has a more disturbing past. Edwards, the fourth suspect arrested in August, has stood trial for violent crimes multiple times. In 2014, Edwards was found guilty of strangulation and bodily injury, resulting in a five year sentence with one year of supervised probation. This sentence was revoked shortly after by another trial. Later, Edwards entered a guilty plea in a child assault and battery case in 2014, which resulted in 12 months sentenced and six months suspended. A trial for murder in the second degree involving Edwards took place in 2011, ending in nolle prosequi, which means it was abandoned by the prosecutor or plaintiff. In 2015, Edwards stood trial for murder, which ended in a mistrial concluded by jury. In 2016, Edwards was again on trial, this time for second degree murder. Both trials list the offense date as May 17, 2014. In the second hearing, Edwards pled guilty and received a sentence of 40 years with 31 years suspended and 40 years supervised probation. In relation to the same offense, Edwards was found guilty in 2016 of the use of a firearm in a felony which ended in a guilty plea and three more years added to his sentence time. A charge of murder in the first degree ended with another disposition of nolle prosequi. While prior offences do not equate guilt in the eyes of the judicial system, Cummings’ parents remain hopeful as the case is worked through the system. With local police departments keeping with the trend of not commenting on ongoing investigations or trials, we will have to wait for more details as to why it took so long for Cummings’ family to see their day in court. Cummings’ father told 13NEWSNOW it would be “poetic
justice” to see the trial arraigned in the Elijah E. Cumming Courthouse in Baltimore, Maryland, named after Cummings’ late uncle who, like the rest of his friends and family, grieved Chris deeply after his passing.
