SUMNER COUNTY, Tenn. (WTVF) — It's a question many are asking: How does one of the deadliest mass murderers in Tennessee history avoid the death penalty?
Earlier this month, Michael Cummins agreed to a plea deal for life in prison.
For the first time, details from behind the scenes explain how this controversial decision to spare Cummins' life was reached. So, Cummins never went to trial.
District Attorney Ray Whitley says the evidence was overwhelming to convict. His plan all along was to seek the death penalty.
But then that changed.
"All right ladies and gentlemen, we're here today on the state of Tennessee vs. Michael Lee Cummins," said Judge Dee Gay.
Earlier this month — four and half years after he slaughtered eight people — Cummins agreed to a plea for a life sentence.
"Mr. Cummins will never see life outside a Tennessee state penitentiary. You can rest easy with that," said Judge Gay.
Certainly, Cummins will.
After all, had he been convicted at a trial he would have faced death.
"The death penalty is reserved for the worst of the worst," said NewsChannel 5's legal analyst Nick Leonardo. He added on Cummins' crime qualities.
He bludgeoned eight people to death in Sumner County — including his parents, an uncle, and a 12-year-old girl — back in 2019.
Prosecutors had always vowed to seek the death penalty.
What suddenly changed?
"There were challenges to putting this individual to death that would have been litigated for years for the mental health side of things," said Leonardo.
Cummins was deemed mentally fit to stand trial, but just days before jury selection, new evidence from a brain scan showed Cummins would likely never have been deemed fit to execute.
And then there is the nature of the victims in this case.
Several were related to Cummins and none wanted to relive the horrors of what happened on appeal after appeal.
"In this case, the victims are related to the defendant and didn't want the death penalty and wanted finality and closure," said Leonardo.
For his part, Cummins had sought to plead guilty from the day he was arrested, hoping only to avoid the death penalty.
In the end, he pleaded guilty to eight counts of first-degree murder: life in prison with no chance of parole.
He cannot appeal.
He'll die behind bars, and the case is finally closed.
Cummins' murder of eight people is certainly one of the worst mass murders in Tennessee history and the deadliest of the past 25 years.
