One day after the story of Joyce Curnell’s death in a South Carolina jail cell last summer, there is news of the “mysterious death” of India Cummings in a holding cell in Erie County, New York. The Buffalo News reports:
Her landlord, David Pintabona, said Cummings wanted desperately on the afternoon of Feb. 1 to return to her hometown of Rochester and went door-to-door on Knowlton Avenue to find someone to take her there.
“She was freaked, screaming, ‘Help me, help me,’ ” Pintabona said, describing her outbursts as totally out of character. “She was anxious and panicked.”
She also was moving in fits and starts. In one moment, she prayed with a neighbor. In the next, she hijacked a car.
She punched the driver and dragged him out of his Ford Taurus, according to Lackawanna police. She then led officers on a chase that ended after her car struck three vehicles and a school bus.
At her arraignment in County Court on Feb. 9, she did not recognize her mother.
This is a case to watch closely, not only only for instances of law enforcement culpability and accountability, but to keep an eye on something else that may need scrutinizing:
Cummings, described as a typically calm person, was arrested 26 days ago after a series of rash acts brought on, in part, her family said, by the synthetic marijuana known as K2. It can trigger hallucinations, agitation and violent behavior.
Where India Cummings may have gotten some synthetic marijuana from should be the next, most crucial question asked in this equation.