Offender Record · OFF-2026-049
Jesse James Cummings (photo from the Radford University biography)
Jesse James Cummings Jr.
Also known as Jessie James Cummings Jr.
Sex
Male
Race
White
Height
5'9"
Weight
185 lbs
Hair
Brown
Eyes
Blue
Born
1955
Custody
Deceased
States
CA, AR, OK
Distinguishing featuresHeight 5'9"; balding, sunken eyes, wore thick-framed glasses (as described in 2008 execution coverage)
Custody
Deceased at Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester · #244982
Custody record at the facility
Executed by lethal injection on September 25, 2008, at 6:11 p.m. CDT at Oklahoma State Penitentiary, McAlester. Received June 3, 1996; executed 2008-09-25. (Oklahoma Department of Corrections records and Clark Prosecutor archive)
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Summary of the record
Jesse James Cummings Jr. was convicted in Coal County, Oklahoma, of the first-degree murder of an 11-year-old girl, his niece Melissa Moody, on September 5, 1991. He was arrested on July 28, 1994, convicted on May 30, 1996, and sentenced to death. Although initially convicted of two murders, his conviction for his half-sister's death was overturned on appeal in 1998 because only accomplice testimony linked him to that killing. Cummings was executed by lethal injection on September 25, 2008, at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. He maintained his innocence until his death.
Documented Arrests, Charges and Convictions
Dispositions are shown exactly as the cited records report them. Pending charges are updated when a court acts; a record with no remaining conviction or pending charge is removed from the site.
Offense date Apr 1991, Phillips, Oklahoma
Rape of Sherry Cummings' 14-year-old sister — not formally charged; used as evidence of continuing threat at sentencing
Coal County District Court, Oklahoma · District Court of Coal County (presented at sentencing hearing) · Docket CF-94-32 · Not formally charged; presented as unadjudicated aggravating circumstance evidence · Arrested Jul 28, 1994 · Charged (pending) Charged (pending) · Sentence: None (unadjudicated); used to support capital sentencing
In April 1991, Cummings raped Sherry Cummings' 14-year-old sister (Lohoma Yaws) with assistance from his wives Sherry and Juanita Cummings while she was babysitting his two children. The victim did not report the crime due to threats from Cummings that he would kill her and her mother. The state presented this as evidence of Cummings' continuing threat to society at the capital sentencing phase of his murder trial.
SourcesCummings v. Sirmons, 506 F.3d 1211 (10th Cir. 2007); Cummings v. State, 970 P.2d 188 (Okla.Crim.App. 1998)
Offense date Sep 05, 1991, Choctaw County, Oklahoma; victim abducted from Coal County residence in Phillips
First Degree Murder (Count II: Felony Murder with Kidnapping as underlying felony)
Coal County District Court, Oklahoma · District Court of Coal County · Docket CF-94-32 · Oklahoma First Degree Murder statute · Arrested Jul 28, 1994 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (lethal injection); executed 2008-09-25
On September 5, 1991, Cummings raped an 11-year-old girl twice—once at his home in Phillips with assistance from his wives, and again at a wooded location in Choctaw County before stabbing her in the chest and slitting her throat. Her skeletal remains were discovered near a bridge over Clear Boggy River. Cummings' conviction for this murder was upheld on all appeals and was the basis for his death sentence.
SourcesJesse James Cummings Jr. #1123; Cummings v. Sirmons, 506 F.3d 1211 (10th Cir. 2007); Cummings v. State, 970 P.2d 188 (Okla.Crim.App. 1998); Jesse Cummings; Melissa Marie Moody (1980-1991)
Offense date Sep 05, 1991, Phillips, Coal County, Oklahoma
First Degree Murder (Count I: Malice Aforethought Murder) — conviction overturned on appeal
Coal County District Court, Oklahoma · District Court of Coal County · Docket CF-94-32 · Oklahoma First Degree Murder statute · Arrested Jul 28, 1994 · Convicted Convicted · Sentence: Death (conviction overturned 1998)
On September 5, 1991, Cummings ordered his wife Juanita Cummings to shoot and kill his half-sister, Judy Ann Moody Mayo, age 46, at his residence in Phillips while he was away in Oklahoma City with his ailing father. His wife confessed and shot the victim. Cummings and his wives then disposed of the body by taking it to a lake near Atoka and dumping it in the water. The body was found on September 9, 1991. Although Cummings was convicted in 1996, the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned this conviction in 1998, ruling that accomplice testimony alone was insufficient to convict him under Oklahoma law.
SourcesJesse James Cummings Jr. #1123; Cummings v. State, 970 P.2d 188 (Okla.Crim.App. 1998); Judy Ann Runyon Moody Mayo (1944-1991)
Pattern and Background
Victim counts and the pattern of the offenses as stated by courts, agencies and the cited reporting. Suspected counts are what officials have said publicly, not a finding of this site.
1
Victims convicted
0
Victims confessed
0
Victims suspected
Active years
1991–1991
Victim profile
Children, Family members
Stated motive
Anger or revenge
Range from home
local
Accomplice
Yes
Education
some high school
Marital history
Married
Children
3
Died
2008-09-25 · executed
Places Lived, Worked and Frequented
Each place and date range comes from a cited record. Dates marked approximate are as reported. Know a place that is missing? Use Edit record under the photo; a moderator reviews it before it appears.
AR
Arkansas
approx. 1978 – 1987 · Various locations; lived in Batesville, Arkansas; worked as truck driver
Batesville, Arkansas
approx. 1987 – 1989 · Truck driver for Weaver Trucking; later fired from job
CA
Modesto, California
approx. 1955 · Birthplace and childhood home
OK
Oklahoma, Oklahoma
1985 – 1985 · Received certificate of training from Ranger Security & Investigations for basic armed guard training
Phillips, Oklahoma
1989 – 1994 · Found house in Phillips, Oklahoma with wives Anita and Sherry; residence where murders occurred
Tupelo, Oklahoma
approx. 1989 – 1989 · Moved August 31, 1989
Phillips, Oklahoma
approx. 1991 – 1991 · Bond recovery agent at time of offense
Coal, Oklahoma
Jul 28, 1994 – Jun 03, 1996 · Detained pending trial and conviction; trial 1996
Coal, Oklahoma
Jul 28, 1994 – Jul 28, 1994 · Arrested in Coal County on July 28, 1994
McAlester, Oklahoma
Jun 03, 1996 – Sep 25, 2008 · Oklahoma State Penitentiary; reception date June 3, 1996; ODOC# 244982; death row; executed September 25, 2008 at 6:11 p.m. CDT by lethal injection
Timeline
Nov 19, 1955
Jesse James Cummings Jr. born in Modesto, California.
1985
Cummings received certificate of training from Ranger Security & Investigations for basic armed guard training.
1987
Cummings became truck driver and moved to Batesville, Arkansas.
Aug 31, 1989
Cummings moved to Tupelo, Oklahoma.
Dec 1989
Cummings found house in Phillips, Oklahoma with wives Anita and Sherry.
Apr 1991
Cummings raped Sherry Cummings' 14-year-old sister with assistance of his wives.
Sep 04, 1991
Cummings left for Oklahoma City with his ailing father to receive medical treatment.
Sep 05, 1991
Judy Ann Moody Mayo, age 46, was shot and killed at Cummings' residence in Phillips, Oklahoma by his wife Juanita Cummings on his orders. On the same day, Cummings raped and murdered his 11-year-old niece Melissa Moody in Choctaw County.
Sep 08, 1991
Cummings reported his sister Judy Ann Moody Mayo and niece Melissa Moody missing to Atoka County Sheriff's Office.
Sep 09, 1991
Body of Judy Ann Moody Mayo was found near Atoka Lake.
Oct 16, 1991
Skeletal remains of Melissa Moody were found near Clear Boggy River bridge in Choctaw County.
Jul 28, 1994
Jesse James Cummings Jr. was arrested in Coal County, Oklahoma.
Aug 01, 1994
Cummings was charged by information in Coal County District Court with two counts of first-degree murder: Count 1 for death of Judy Mayo and Count 2 for death of Melissa Moody.
May 30, 1996
Cummings was convicted by jury in Coal County District Court of two counts of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.
Jun 03, 1996
Cummings received at Oklahoma State Penitentiary; ODOC# 244982.
Nov 10, 1998
Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals overturned Cummings' conviction for the murder of Judy Mayo because only accomplice testimony linked him to the killing, violating Oklahoma law requiring corroboration. Conviction for Melissa Moody's murder upheld.
Oct 30, 2007
United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit affirmed denial of Cummings' habeas petition in Cummings v. Sirmons, 506 F.3d 1211.
Sep 25, 2008
Jesse James Cummings Jr. was executed by lethal injection at 6:11 p.m. CDT at Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester for the 1991 murder of his 11-year-old niece Melissa Moody.
Sources
Solve the Case is never the original source. Each item below is the public record a statement on this page rests on, with an archived copy where one exists.
Offender registry · Find a Grave ·
Judy Ann Runyon Moody Mayo (1944-1991)“Judy Ann Runyon Moody Mayo (11 Oct 1944–5 Sep 1991), mother of Melissa Moody, and sister of Jesse James Cummings was shot and killed by Juanita 'Anita' Cummings, one of two wives of Jesse.”
News report · Oxygen ·
Bigamist Stabbed 11-Year-Old Niece To Death, Allegedly Forced Sister-Wife To Kill Girl's Mother“Prosecutors said Cummings convinced his two wives to kill his sister Judy Moody Mayo, who was the child's mother.”
Offender registry · Find a Grave ·
Melissa Marie Moody (1980-1991)“Melissa's body was found by the side of a bridge over the Clear Boggy River in Choctaw County. She had been killed by her uncle, Jesse James Cummings who was convicted and put to death Sept. 25, 2008.”
Offender registry · Find a Grave ·
Jessie James Cummings Jr. (1955-2008)“Jesse Cummings Jr. died at the age of 52, at the State Penitentiary in McAlester, Oklahoma, executed by Lethal Injection, for the crime of murder.”
News report · Tulsa World (via McAlester News) ·
Family's tyrant executed for killing niece“A bigamist and cruel patriarch, Jesse James Cummings led a life scarred by violence.”
News report · Death Penalty News ·
Oklahoma executes Jessie James Cummings“Jessie James Cummings, 52, was sentenced to die by lethal injection for the 1991 Coal County murder of his 11-year-old niece, Melissa Moody.”
Other government record · Clark Prosecutor's Office ·
Jesse James Cummings Jr. #1123“Jesse James Cummings was convicted and sentenced to death in Coal County, Oklahoma District Court for the September 1991 murders of his sister, Judy Ann Moody Mayo, 42, and Mayos daughter, Melissa Moody, 11.”
Other · Radford University Department of Psychology ·
Radford University serial killer biography: Cummings, Jesse James“Jesse James Cummings: Born 11/19/1955 in Modesto, California. Arrested July 28, 1994. Convicted May 9, 1996. Sentenced to death for two counts of first degree murder.”
News report · Murderpedia ·
Jesse Cummings“Cummings was convicted of both murders in 1996, but the conviction for his sister's death was thrown out by the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals in 1998 because only the testimony of accomplices linked him to the killing.”
Court record · U.S. Court of Appeals, Tenth Circuit ·
Cummings v. Sirmons, 506 F.3d 1211 (10th Cir. 2007)“Petitioner Jesse James Cummings, an Oklahoma state prisoner convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to death, appeals the district court's denial of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition.”
Court record · Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals ·
Cummings v. State, 970 P.2d 188 (Okla.Crim.App. 1998)“Petitioner, Jessie James Cummings, was tried by a jury and convicted of First Degree Malice Murder (Count I) and First Degree Felony Murder (Count II) in the District Court of Coal County.”
Discussion
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