LANCASTER : Pair Pleads Guilty in Shooting Death
Two men described by authorities as members of an Antelope Valley methamphetamine distribution ring pleaded guilty Tuesday to second-degree murder in the shooting death of an associate who supposedly owed them money.
James D. Tindell of Lancaster and David W. Frans of Quartz Hill, both 28, entered the pleas as their trial for the March, 1992, slaying of Darwin C. Cummings, 28, was about to open in Lancaster Superior Court. They are scheduled to be sentenced April 26 and face terms of 15 years to life in prison.
Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz said the pair caught Cummings in Lancaster, used duct tape to gag him and tie his hands, then drove off with him. Cummings’ body was discovered March 24, 1992, in a field east of Lancaster. He had been shot twice in the head.
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