ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Some gathered in prayer seeking strength for the family of Michelle Cummings, while others spoke of justice.
“We’re going to come together and we’re going to solve this,” Full Force Ministries Rev. Maurice Bowden told the crowd. “We’re going to find the perpetrators… the murderers. The murderers. It can’t stand.”
In a city, which prides itself on taking cadets from the U.S. Naval Academy under its collective wing, a pair of stray bullets cut short the 57-year-old woman’s life on the eve of one of she and her husband, Leonard’s, proudest moments, watching their son’s induction ceremony.
A widowed husband now balancing grief with gratitude for those who have supported him in the aftermath of the shooting.
“I would like to thank the Motherhood and the Brotherhood of Annapolis, my fraternity brothers, the Divine Nine that have been in front of me during this process,” said Cummings. “They have not been walking with me. They’ve been walking in front of me.”
Supporters gathered at a memorial recently dedicated to the victims of the Capital Gazette shootings where the pain of this latest violent death struck home for city leaders, like Mayor Gavin Buckley.
“Somebody lost their wife, a mother in the most extreme, horrific circumstances.”
A display of support for a grieving family.
“I’d like to thank the city… the mayor and all that you all are doing to help me and my family, my son and my daughter, through this process,” responded Cummings.
And one of anguish shared by the community that had been ready to welcome them to Annapolis.
“I want to say to the killer. Please turn yourself in,” said Retired Annapolis Police Sgt. James Spearman. “Stop all this nonsense. Stop hiding. Do something good in your life and turn yourself in. You have hurt more people, than you know.”
