It is not yet clear whether Herbert Cummings suffered his injuries inside the home or somewhere else.
TRENTON — A 47-year-old city man was found dead in his bed early yesterday in what authorities have ruled a homicide, causing shock in a neighborhood that knew the victim as a peaceful churchgoer and a lover of music.
Herbert Cummings was found by his roommate inside the home they shared on the 200 block of Rosemont Avenue in the city’s West Ward. Police said Cummings had suffered blunt force trauma, which is used to describe severe physical injury caused by an attack.
It is not yet clear whether Cummings suffered his injuries inside the home or somewhere else, Lt. Steve Varn said yesterday.
Patrol officers were called to Cummings’ home by his roommate at 12:52 a.m., Varn said. Cummings was officially pronounced dead at 1:12 a.m., and the incident was declared a suspicious death.
“There were some circumstances that made it suspicious,” he said.
Varn would not elaborate, but said that blood was not one of the factors that led police to classify the death that way. A suspicious death investigation is largely a catch-all that means police need to investigate how someone died more closely, with an eye toward the possibility of violence.
The Mercer County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted an autopsy on Cummings’ body Friday morning.
Boimah Shireff, a resident of the neighborhood, was stunned and nearly in tears at the news of his friend’s death. They were fellow Liberians, both having immigrated to the United States. Because of Cummings’ pleasant, faithful demeanor, or the athleticism that made him a great mid-fielder while playing in a soccer league, Shireff could not believe someone had taken Cummings’ life.
“He was very welcoming,” Shireff said. “He was giving no reason to fear him. He’s a good man.”
No arrests have been made, and police say they have zero information on potential suspects. Varn would not say whether or not police view Cummings’ roommate as a suspect in the slaying.
Police had no reports of Cummings being assaulted or robbed, but said they were looking into those possibilities as part of the ongoing investigation.
Other people on Rosemont Avenue yesterday afternoon said they had no knowledge of the mild-mannered Cummings fighting with anyone or being the victim of a robbery.
“He would go to the store, he’d come back, from wherever he goes,” said neighbor Albert Jones, describing Cummings’ routine.
Shireff, who lives up the street on Rosemont from Cummings, met Cummings five years ago when the two started playing in the “Old-Timers” soccer leagues for men ages 35 and older.
Cummings had several jobs in the medical tech field, was working to produce his own gospel recording, and sang in the choir at Jesus Christ Ambassador church near his home on Hoffman Avenue. Shireff said Cummings would always try to convince him to come to church, and that he always gave the same joking answer.
“I said, ‘I’ll see you when you get to Heaven,’” Shireff said.
Cummings’ death adds to a particularly grisly week in Trenton. In seven days beginning last Saturday the city has seen five homicides in four separate incidents, bringing the toll to 28 homicides so far this year.
Minister Phillip Ravenell, Cummings’ next door neighbor, said he was shocked by the violence.
“There’s so much going on and … no one wants to get involved,” he said.
He believes conditions have the potential to improve.
“If we develop the mentality of the village, of unity — I look out for you, you look out for me — things may change,” he said.
Detective Jason Snyder of the Trenton Police Department and Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Matt Norton are investigating Cummings’ death.
Anyone with information on the killing should call police at (609) 989-4170, or the Confidential Tip Line at (609) 989-3663.
Trenton Crime-Stoppers can be reached at 278-TIPS (8477), online at trentoncrimestoppers.com or by texting information and keyword TCSTIPS to 274637. Text STOP to 274637 to cancel and text HELP to 274637 for assistance.
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
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