An ODU student was shot dead in 2011. Now, an accused killer is set for trial after charges against 2 others were dismissed.
The investigation into the 2011 fatal shooting of Old Dominion University student Christopher Cummings has been long and filled with plenty of twists and turns.
Cummings, a 20-year-old nephew of the late U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, was killed that summer during a home invasion and robbery attempt at an off-campus house he shared with a roommate. His roommate also was shot but survived.
The case remained cold for a decade before police announced last year they’d arrested and charged four men.
Since then, charges against two of the men have been dismissed by two separate judges with prejudice, meaning prosecutors can’t seek to recharge them later. Defense attorneys for the two men have accused prosecutors of misconduct, with the Norfolk commonwealth’s attorney conceding mistakes were made in the case.
Despite those developments, a third man — 32-year-old Javon Doyle — is scheduled to begin a jury trial Wednesday in Norfolk Circuit Court. The fourth man accused in the homicide — 29-year-old Rashad Dooley — is set for trial Sept. 7.
Defense attorneys Emily Munn, who represents Doyle, and Eric Korslund, who’s defending Dooley, both said they plan vigorous defenses for their clients.
“Mr. Doyle has maintained his innocence of these charges since he was arrested a year ago,” Munn said Tuesday. “I trust that the jury system will work the way it should. I believe in it.”
Both Doyle and Dooley were recently released on bond after having spent close to a year in jail.
Circuit Judge Everett Martin, who was not involved in the dismissal of the other cases, is set to preside over Doyle’s trial.
The first defendant in the case to have charges dismissed against him was Kwaume Edwards.
The move came during a hearing in June, just days before Edwards was set to go to trial, after prosecutors conceded they hadn’t turned over information to his lawyers in a timely manner. Circuit Judge Jack Doyle granted the defense’s request to dismiss the charges with prejudice.
The following month, charges against Ahmad Watson also were dismissed with prejudice by Circuit Judge Tasha Scott. Watson’s attorneys had argued prosecutors used false information to charge and hold him, including incorrect claims that Watson’s phone had pinged off a cellphone tower near Cummings’ home at the time he was killed, and that a witness had picked Watson out of a photo lineup.
Watson has said he grew up with the three men charged along with him in the case, and that he was friends with Cummings. Prosecutors have alleged that, in addition to being a student, Cummings was selling marijuana, and that the break-in at his home that night was related to his drug dealing.
Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi was at the hearing for Watson last month and conceded mistakes had been made in the case.
A longtime member of the Norfolk prosecutor’s office, Fatehi was elected to lead it a few months after the men were charged. He told the judge he hadn’t supported seeking indictments in the case, and that his predecessor made the decision. But the office has continued to pursue the case under Fatehi’s leadership.
Defense lawyer Michael Massie, one of the attorneys who represents Watson, said after last month’s hearing that he believes the case had been mishandled from the beginning. He and defense attorney Nathan Chapman said they plan to file a civil lawsuit alleging prosecutorial misconduct against the Norfolk commonwealth’s attorney’s office.
Jane Harper, jane.harper@pilotonline.com
