WESTMORELAND, Tenn. (WTVF) — A previous victim of the suspected Westmoreland killer, Michael Cummins, is demanding policy change after seven people were brutally murdered in a killing rampage in Sumner County.
Cummins is recovering in the hospital after a deputy shot him during massive manhunt after the weekend killings.
In 2017, Cummins was sentenced to 10 years after attacking a woman. She did not want to be identified, but told NewsChannel 5 she wants the law to be changed. She believes the suspect should have been monitored 24/7.
"What he did over there didn't shock me, and I told his mother and father, 'he's going to kill you,'" she said about the killing of seven people over the weekend.
Anyone who knew Michael Cummins said he was a ticking time bomb.
"I knew he was dangerous, he walked up and down this road with knives."
She said she still fears for her safety.
"I knew he was sick, and he told me before, 'I'm going to kill you' standing out in the rain on drugs in his yard he said 'I'm going to kill you," the woman said
Cummins pleaded guilty to the attack in which he set her home on fire and attacked her. According to a police report, he said 'When I get out, I'll finish the job.' His 10-year prison sentence was suspended, and he was sentenced to probation instead.
"Ain't that sad… that's so sad," the woman said.
According to his probation order, he was to check in with his officer and receive court-ordered mental health treatment, but she and others say he wasn't doing that.
"The boy didn't have the money to go. The boy didn't have money to function; so he was a pressure cooker."
The District Attorney said Cummins stopped showing up for meetings with his probation officer and wasn't getting treatment. So on Friday, a probation officer began the process to arrest him.
A day later, seven bodies were found brutally murdered and Michael Cummins was named the prime suspect.
"I think if there was a different set of guidelines he might have pulled that 10 years, and then people would be alive."
Now that Michael Cummins has been accused of the deadliest homicide event in Tennessee in 20 years, many are questioning if he should have been let out on probation due to his criminal past.
"He was a stray duck, mental case, that was on drugs."
She is demanding a change in policy, that would require more check ups on convicted felons with mental health issues.
"It was ticking. It was going to happen. It's just the way it was. until they set new guidelines, the law did all that they could do"
The victim said sheriff's deputies checked on her almost daily to make sure she was okay after the attack.
Michael Cummins will be charged when he's released from the hospital.
According to preliminary autopsy reports, the victims died of blunt force trauma and sharp force injuries.
