A 53-year-old woman convicted of killing her mother nearly a year ago at a senior living facility was sentenced Friday to 40 years in prison. Prosecutors described Heather Cummings as showing “no remorse and no accountability” as they recounted the chilling events that unfolded on June 30, 2024.
Police were called to a senior home on Poplar Hall Drive in Norfolk, where they discovered 81-year-old Cleo Loizides dead. Initially, Cummings claimed her mother had likely died of natural causes. However, investigators soon uncovered a much darker truth.
Under questioning, Cummings eventually confessed that she held her mother’s wrists down while her 24-year-old son, Clifton Cummings, strangled the elderly woman using the strap of a handbag he had purchased at a Norfolk dollar store. According to prosecutors, Heather Cummings chillingly told her mother during the act, “This is for the best. You know what you did to my dad.”
In court, Cummings took the stand and expressed regret, saying she missed her mother every day. She also reiterated her belief that Loizides was responsible for the death of her father. Cummings spoke of a difficult childhood, recalling alleged abuse including being pushed down stairs and slapped, yet said she still loved her mother despite the pain.
The defense argued that Cummings had acted in a state of emotional shock and claimed she had tried to intervene to stop her son but failed. They emphasized that she lived in Indiana and only visited her mother occasionally, maintaining she never intended to cause her death.
Prosecutors, however, painted a starkly different picture, pointing to Cummings’ post-arrest statements about wanting to live peacefully with her husband and publish a book showcasing her late father’s photography. These plans, they argued, revealed a disturbing lack of remorse for her actions.
As the sentence was read, Cummings’ husband appeared visibly stunned. Observers in the courtroom overheard him quietly asking the defense attorney if anything else could be done to alter the outcome. Meanwhile, Clifton Cummings, accused of physically carrying out the murder, is set to face a separate bench trial later this year. His court date is scheduled for August 4.
The case has shocked the Norfolk community, leaving many disturbed not only by the crime itself but by the alleged family dynamics and emotional complexities surrounding the tragic killing.