A Pennsylvania man was sentenced to twenty years behind bars for murdering his own mother and taking selfies together with her body – as his family slammed the plea deal he was offered.
David Sumney, 33, was accused of torturing his 67-year-old mom Margaret and murdering her in the toilet of her South Lafayette home in August 2019, the Day by day Beast reported.
The son from hell documented his crime by snapping 277 photos, including multiple selfies that featured blood smeared on his face and the girl’s body.
In August, Sumney managed to secure a plea deal that dismissed charges of first-degree murder and abuse of a corpse – copping only to a single count of third-degree murder, in line with the outlet.
He has been locked up since 2019, so he may very well be released in as few as 17 years.
During a hearing at Allegheny County Court on Thursday, Sumney made a groveling apology for his heinous crime, which left his mom with fractured ribs, a spinal fracture, contusions on her body and lacerations on her face.
“I cannot consider I’d let myself get in such a state where I could do something so bad, so horrible,” he sniveled in front of the judge and his family.
“I cannot consider what I did, that I killed my very own mother. I cannot stop interested by it. I give it some thought day-after-day. I’m sorry, but sorry doesn’t cut it. I handled things as badly as an individual could have,” he said.
“To my family, to my sisters, and my aunts, I understand it’s inconceivable to forgive me. I don’t forgive myself. I just need to allow them to know I’m truly sorry,” Sumney added.
Defense attorney Chris Patterini asked the judge to impose a sentence of seven years within the slammer, saying his client “expressed remorse” and blaming his actions on drug and alcohol use.
Sumney’s half-sister Ellen addressed the killer in court via Zoom.
“You broke her back. You paralyzed our mother. And you then just beat her and beat her. The blood was splattered along the partitions,” she said, in line with The Day by day Beast.
“But I believe the sickest part is the images. The 277 pictures. You simply take pictures if you desire to return and see what you probably did,” she continued.
“David, she gave you every thing she had, and when she didn’t have the rest to offer, you killed her. I had no idea you were this sort of monster,” Ellen added. “And I’m still upset you weren’t prosecuted to the fullest. This was first-degree murder.”
If convicted of the unique charges, Sumney would have faced life in prison.
Margaret’s older sister, Mary Ellen, called him “lower than a chunk of trash” and said she wished he got the death penalty – while one other sister, Ann Shade, begged the court “to not give him a second probability.”
Sumney’s cousin, Margo, said she’s going to always remember the “metallic smell” when she entered the victim’s blood-soaked home in 2019.
“He’s the epitome of pure evil. We’ll never find peace with any of this,” she said in court.
When Sumney was arrested, he was present in possession of a silver bracelet, a diamond gold necklace, his mom’s debit card and three blank checks in her name.
After the murder, he stayed at a Philadelphia hotel where he gave the manager a set of pearls and said, “From a special lady to a special lady,” The Day by day Beast reported.
He had reportedly searched online on the way to get rid of his mother’s stays – using such queries as “how long does it take before a body starts to decompose?” and “how long do you wait to get rid of a body?”
The defense called two jail employees, including one who described Sumney as a model inmate who was engaging in Bible studies with other prisoners.
A physician also argued that Sumney had had diminished mental capability as a result of “extremely high doses” of Adderall when he killed his mother.
The judge sentenced Sumney to a minimum of 20 years and a maximum of 40 years.
The killer also faces one other criminal case in Atlantic City, where his ex-girlfriend said he waterboarded and strangled her in a hotel room in July 2019.
“I’m joyful. It let me breathe quite a bit,” the girl told The Day by day Beast about Sumney’s sentencing, adding that she, too, wished he had been prosecuted to the fullest.