A Texas man charged in the slaying of Southwest Airlines flight attendant Kenneth Cummings Jr. said from jail that he was doing God's work when he went looking in Houston gay bars for a gay man to kill.
"Sexual perversion" is the "worst sin," Terry Mark Mangum told reporters July 21 from the Brazoria County jail where he awaits trial, explaining that he believed "with all my heart that I was doing the right thing" when he stabbed Cummings in the head with a six-inch knife. Hours after Mangum's jailhouse gabfest, a judge slapped a gag order on the case.
Mangum is charged with murder with a hate-crime enhancement in the June 4 slaying. Cummings' charred body was found days later on Mangum's grandfather's ranch near San Antonio.
The James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Act, passed in 2001, allows for Texas crimes motivated by "sexual preference" to be prosecuted at the next highest level of severity. That can mean more years at sentencing, a lesser chance of parole, or both, Scott said. As of last week, Brazoria County District Attorney Jeri Yenne was not seeking the death penalty. Instead, she said she filed the hate-crime enhancement to reduce Mangum's likelihood of parole.
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