Hurst investigators say suspect told sister he had killed his wife

Laura Cummings had obtained a temporary protective order keeping her husband away from her, and she was trying to make the order permanent when she was killed last month, according to affidavits filed by investigators.

Just a few minutes after patrol officers found her body in her Hurst apartment on the morning of April 17, her estranged husband, Randy Cummings, 42, was on the phone, telling his sister that he killed his wife, the affidavits state.

“It’s bad. It’s bad. Laura and I had a fight,” Randy Cummings told Vickie Castro-Romero.

Castro-Romero and a former wife of Randy Cummings then drove to Hurst. They met Cummings at a Jack in the Box on Hurstview Drive, according to the arrest and search warrant affidavits obtained by the Star-Telegram on Thursday.

“It was bad. Laura is dead,” he told his sister.

Castro-Romero asked how he knew.

“I know,” he replied.

That afternoon, Randy Cummings was arrested at his residence in the 1300 block of Clarence Street in Haltom City on a capital murder warrant.

He also faces a charge of assault with bodily injury/family violence resulting from an earlier encounter with Laura Cummings, 43. On March 24, Randy Cummings was arrested and accused of assaulting his wife in the parking lot of The Potter’s House church at 1272 Woodhaven Blvd. in Fort Worth. The affidavit states that Randy Cummings rammed Laura Cummings’ vehicle.

Laura Cummings “attempted to retrieve her car keys from the suspect and the suspect shoved her against his car causing her to injure her elbow,” said Fort Worth police Sgt. Steve Enright this week. “The victim refused any medical attention.”

Tarrant County court records show the couple married on Aug. 2, 2011.

After the March 24 encounter, she obtained the temporary protective order. He was not supposed to be within 200 feet of her Hurst apartment where she lived with her 19-year-old son.

Also, she started attending meetings at One Safe Place in Fort Worth, a center that helps victims of family violence. The affidavit says she was trying to get a permanent protective order.

At 10:28 a.m. April 17, the staff of One Safe Place called Hurst police, concerned because Laura Cummings had not shown up for an appointment.

Patrol officers who went to her apartment found broken glass outside from a patio door. Inside, they found her body in a bedroom.

Officers reported seeing a large cut in her throat, but an autopsy indicated that Laura Cummings died of strangulation.

An investigator with state Child Protective Services on another case provided detectives with a lead. The investigator had called Haltom City police on the morning of April 17 to say she was at Castro-Romero’s home on the unrelated case when Randy Cummings called his sister. Haltom City police notified Hurst police.

Castro-Romero was interviewed at the Hurst police station, where she told detectives about her brother’s confession. Randy Cummings had told his sister that he was going to surrender, but he was instead taken into custody at his Haltom City home.

He remained in the Tarrant County Jail Thursday with bail set at $1 million. Police are pursuing a capital murder charge because Cummings is accused of breaking into the apartment in addition to killing his estranged wife, police said Thursday.

This story was originally published April 23, 2015 at 2:58 PM with the headline "Hurst investigators say suspect told sister he had killed his wife."