Thursday, April 26, 2001
A municipal judge set the woman's bond at $1.8 million on five charges.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Police say a woman who told them "it ain't like I killed someone" when she was arrested at a burglary scene has been charged with just that -- killing someone.
Detective Sgt. Jerry Maietta said Damita Jo Lee, 27, of Helena Avenue shot and killed the man whose charred body was found about 5:15 a.m. Monday in a car at Chicago and Earle avenues.
A coroner's investigator today identified the victim as Achilles M. Cummings of Southern Boulevard, Youngstown.
Jail records show the 41-year-old man was arrested last month on drug charges and was out on bond.
Maietta said Cummings did odd jobs for Lee. The detective said a theft of property dispute could have been the homicide motive.
At Lee's arraignment Wednesday in municipal court, Judge Elizabeth A. Kobly set bond at $1.8 million cash or surety on five charges, including aggravated murder. A preliminary hearing is set for Wednesday.
Additional charges: Lee also faces charges of drug abuse-cocaine, aggravated burglary, burglary and felonious assault from events late Tuesday night.
While waiting to be arraigned, Lee covered the top half of her body with a plastic trash bag and sat on unrolled toilet paper in a holding cell at the police department, reports show.
When officers removed the bag, Lee, who had been breathing heavily and loudly inside it, told them she had used it to keep warm.
Police moved Lee to a warmer spot near their front desk and handcuffed her to a security door. She has since been returned to the county jail.
Police said Lee stabbed herself repeatedly in the abdomen when they arrived at the scene of a break-in on East LaClede Avenue about 11:45 p.m.
Officers said they found John Johnson, 61, the resident, in Lee's grasp and had to pull him away from her. Lee swung the knife wildly and fell over an ironing board and through a window as she stabbed herself, police said. Johnson was treated for cuts to the head.
At the hospital, she reportedly told police, "So what if I got coked up and busted some windows. It ain't like I killed someone."
At the time, police suspected she may have been involved in two other break-ins that night -- another on East LaClede and one on East Florida Avenue.
Victims gave a description that matched Lee and she had a cordless phone that was stolen from one home, reports show.
Lee's county jail records over the past four years show arrests on charges of drug abuse, assault, possession of cocaine, felonious assault and more.
She was last in jail in January to serve three days on a traffic charge.
The city has recorded 12 homicides this year, which keeps pace with last year at this time.