Indianapolis man charged in fatal shooting of postal worker

INDIANAPOLIS » Federal prosecutors have brought second-degree murder charges against a 21-year-old Indianapolis man accused of fatally shooting a mail carrier after his postal deliveries were suspended due to an aggressive dog at his home.

Tony Cushingberry-Mays, whom police previously identified as Tony Cusnhingberry, was arrested Tuesday in the deadly shooting of Angela Summers, a carrier for the U.S. Postal Service.

In addition to the second-degree murder count, U.S. Attorney Josh Minkler’s office charged Cushingberry-Mays with assaulting a federal employee and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, according to court documents filed Wednesday.

“He stated the letter carrier was not delivering the mail because she was having a problem with the dog at his residence,” Postal Inspector Joseph J. De St Jean wrote in the criminal complaint.

When there is an issue with dogs at a residence, three letters are given and on the third, mail is curtailed, said

Paul Toms, president of the National Association of Letter Carriers’ Indianapolis Local Branch 39.

According to De St Jean, Cushingberry-Mays said he approached Summers, asked for his mail and did not receive a response. After trying to ignore his persistence, she then turned around and pepper sprayed him.

He “then pulled his handgun from the right side of his waistband and fired one shot,” De St Jean wrote.

According to court documents, the defendant said he didn’t mean to kill Summers and that he just meant to scare her.