Man Admits To Murdering Mother In Allegheny County Home

SOUTH FAYETTE, PA — A South Fayette man admitted to third-degree murder in the death of his mother on Wednesday, though a report says some family members wanted a harsher charge.

David Lee Sumney II, 33, had also been arrested for attacking her in previous years, a report says.

Sumney pleaded guilty Wednesday to third-degree murder, Allegheny County District Attorney's Office spokesperson Mike Manko said.

Several family members wanted a first-degree murder charge, which carries a mandatory life sentence, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported. Police had already arrested Sumney in 2014 and 2016 for attacking his mother, and in 2015 charged him with assaulting his father, the report said.

South Fayette Police found Sumney's mother Margaret, 67, dead in her Olde Orchard Drive home on September 2, 2019 after someone requested a welfare check.

Police could not determine how Margaret Sumney died, and called the Allegheny County Police Homicide Unit to investigate.

The county medical examiner ruled her cause of death as blunt force trauma, and said it was a homicide. Detectives identified David Sumney as a suspect.

On Sept. 4, Allegheny County police charged Sumney with receiving stolen property after they found some of his mother's jewelry in his possession.

Investigators found blood spatter in several rooms of the house and evidence someone had tried to clean it up, according to WTAE.

Officials added charges of criminal homicide, robbery, theft and abuse of a corpse on Sept. 28. A judge denied him bail, court records show.

Judge Edward Borkowski set Sumney's sentencing hearing for Nov. 17.