Man Pleads Guilty in Murder of Indianapolis Mail Carrier

Angela Summers was gunned down in 2020 after Tony Cushingberry got upset over no mail delivery
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Apr 30, 2020 7:41 AM CDT
Updated Jul 7, 2022 8:27 AM CDT
Mail Carrier Killed After Writing of Feeling 'Seriously Unsafe'
This Tuesday, April 28, 2020, booking photo provided by the Indianapolis Police Department shows Tony Cushingberry. Cushingberry, was arrested Tuesday in connection with the Monday, April 27, shooting death of postal worker Angela Summers, authorities said Wednesday.   (Indianapolis Police Department via AP)

Update: It's a guilty plea for Tony Cushingberry, accused of fatally gunning down an Indianapolis mail carrier in 2020. NBC News reports the 23-year-old pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Tuesday, per the US Attorney's Office for Southern Indiana. Court documents note that mail wasn't being delivered to Cushingberry's home due to an aggressive dog on his property, and so he confronted 45-year-old Angela Summers on April 27, 2020, after she walked by his home without dropping off the mail, per the Indianapolis Star. After Summers sprayed Cushingberry with mace, he's said to have pulled out a gun and shot her in the chest. Summers died at an area hospital. Cushingberry will be sentenced by a federal district court judge at a yet-to-be-determined date. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. Our original story from April 2020 follows:

A 45-year-old mail carrier and mom of a 14-year-old is dead in Indianapolis after being gunned down on the job. The New York Times reports Angela Summers was killed Monday afternoon while delivering mail, and a 21-year-old man has been arrested. One man in the neighborhood where Summers was shot tells the Indianapolis Star that he was in his yard Monday and heard profanity, "angry words," and then "the pop of gunfire." Another local resident, 19-year-old Alondra Salazar, says she was inside her home when she also heard a loud noise, then knocking. When she opened her door, she says she saw a bloodied, "hyperventilating" Summers on her porch, with mail, a small container of hand sanitizer, and a can of pepper spray scattered around her.

Salazar called 911 and tried to keep Summers calm, though she said she lost it when the wounded woman "said something about her kid." The Marion County Coroner says she died of a gunshot wound to the chest, per FOX59. The cops are so far mum on a motive, but a Facebook post by the National Association of Letter Carriers says Summers "was shot by a customer who was upset over his mail being held at the post office for a dog issue." A local NALC rep tells the Star that mail is usually suspended if a residence receives three dog complaints. "There had been a long-standing issue with dogs" at a local residence, he notes.

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Tony Cushingberry was arrested Tuesday for "alleged involvement" in Summers' death; charges are pending. The Star reports that in Facebook posts made on Saturday Summers wrote about having to spray a "nasty" dog twice, and said she felt "seriously unsafe" after the family that owned the dog threatened her over their halted mail service; the posts do not identify which residence she was referring to. (More shooting stories.)

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