Baby-Sitter’s Murder Trial Ends in Deadlock

The trial of a former PTA president charged with murdering a 9-month-old boy she was baby-sitting ended in a deadlock Tuesday, setting off an outburst of tears, screams and furious confrontations among jurors, participants and the defendant’s family.

Climaxing a three-month trial and eight days of deliberations, a Van Nuys Superior Court judge declared a mistrial in the case against Debra Suzanne Cummings, 34, of Reseda after the jury declared itself hopelessly deadlocked 7 to 5 for acquittal.

Prosecutors said they will seek a new trial for Cummings, who faces a manslaughter charge in a separate case--the death of a 14-month-old boy who also died while in her care.

The tension of the trial erupted outside the courtroom after the jury was excused because one of the jurors began hyperventilating and had to lie down on a hallway bench.

Cummings and members of her family rushed out of the courtroom, pushing past television and newspaper cameras. “You’ve had enough pictures already,” one of her relatives screamed.

The defendant’s mother, Shirley Ellen Patton, approached one of the jurors in the hallway. The juror, Robin Hamilton, said the mother told her, “I hope you can sleep tonight,” and stormed away.

Hamilton yelled back, “I will,” and began crying. She later said that she had complained to Judge Michael J. Farrell that Patton, who sat through most of the trial, often tried to stare her down during the trial. The judge’s clerk said the judge had warned Cummings’ attorney privately to tell the mother to stop.

Jurors said deliberations were difficult and often heated, with those on opposing sides ridiculing one another. “Some people thought it was an open-and-shut case for guilty, and others thought it was an open-and-shut case for not guilty,” jury foreman David Saporito said.

“It got nasty,” Hamilton said. “We all seemed to see something different. I don’t want to ever go through this again.”

Another juror, Gil Aguilar, said he believed that the majority of the group favored acquittal because there was no direct evidence that Cummings struck Kevin Young in her home on June 15, 1990, when the child suffered two fatal skull fractures.

The child died the next day. Cummings said he fell and hit his head. But a coroner’s report concluded that the injuries were inconsistent with a fall, and the prosecution’s cased focused on the fact that Cummings was the only adult present when the infant was injured.

Cummings testified that the infant was playing with her 2 1/2-year-old nephew in the living room and that she was preparing a bottle in the kitchen when she heard a loud thud and saw Kevin on the floor.

Aguilar said some jurors thought that the young nephew may have struck Kevin, although the defense never brought up that possibility during the trial. He said that some jurors also felt that Cummings, who was PTA president at Shirley Avenue Elementary School in Reseda, was incapable of hurting a child and poses no threat to society.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Carol Fisch said she hopes to combine a second trial with the other case against Cummings, in which she is charged with involuntary manslaughter in the March, 1990, death of 14-month-old Matthew Cooley. The baby died after losing consciousness while at a park in Cummings’ care. A preliminary hearing on that case is set for Aug. 24.