A man whose attorney said he was mentally unstable has been charged with the fatal beating of his brohter, 53-year-old man Jerry Lee Cummings, last fall in the Austin neighborhood on the West Side.
Robert Cummings | Chicago Police
Robert Cummings, 47, of the 7600 block of South Marquette, faces one count of first-degree murder, and was ordered held on a $1 million bond Saturday, according to court records and Chicago Police.
About 1:10 p.m. Sept. 8, Jerry Lee Cummings was found unresponsive with injuries to his face and groin inside a vehicle in the 200 block of North Lockwood, authorities said at the time. He was pronounced dead at the scene about 20 minutes later.
Court records indicate Robert Cummings had lived with his brother, but had been asked to leave about a week earlier. However, he returned to the home and Jerry Lee Cummings agreed to let him sleep in his car.
On the morning of Sept. 8, Jerry Lee Cummings got into the car with his brother, and court records show that is when he was attacked. An autopsy determined he died of multiple assault injuries and his death was ruled a homicide, the Cook County medical examiner’s office said.
Robert Cummings was initially questioned about the murder when he showed up at a hospital, prosecutors said. He was arrested Friday after DNA confirmed the blood found on his clothing belonged to his brother.
On Saturday, he was ordered held at the Cook County Jail on a $1 million bond, according to the sheriff’s office. He is due back in court Tuesday.
--Chicago Sun-Times Wire and Homicide Watch Chicago