A woman who traveled from Indiana to Virginia to help murder her elderly mother has been sentenced to 40 years in prison.
Heather Cummings, 53, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for her role in the June 30, 2024, killing of her 81-year-old mother, Cleo Loizides, at Commonwealth Senior Living in Virginia.
Prosecutors said Cummings restrained her mother while her son, 24-year-old Clifton Cummings, strangled her with a handbag strap.
According to court documents, Heather told her mother during the killing, “This is for the best. You know what you did to my dad.”
Loizides was found unresponsive in her room and died the next day. An autopsy confirmed the death was a homicide.
Both Heather and Clifton were arrested and charged on July 9, 2024. Clifton allegedly confessed to police that he carried out the strangulation using a handbag strap purchased at a Dollar Tree.
During sentencing, Heather Cummings claimed her mother had abused her and blamed her for her father’s death, though she said she still loved her.
Prosecutors noted she showed no remorse and spoke afterward about wanting to live peacefully and write a book about her father’s photography.
Clifton Cummings is set to face a bench trial on August 4.
