Man who wasn’t getting his mail pleads guilty to murdering postal carrier

An Indianapolis man who was upset that he wasn't getting his mail pleaded guilty Wednesday to fatally shooting a postal carrier.

Tony Cushingberry, 23, pleaded guilty Tuesday to murder in the 2020 death of the letter carrier Angela Summers, the U.S. attorney s office for Southern Indiana said.

He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. A sentencing date hasn't been set.

The mail was not delivered to Cushingberry's home because of issues with a dog at home, according to court documents.

While Summers was delivering mail on April 27, 2020, Cushingberry approached her and she backed off onto a neighbor's porch. She sprayed him with defensive spray just before she was shot, plea agreement documents say.

Summers was a dedicated public servant who was senselessly murdered when she was senselessly murdered, U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers said in a statement.

A request for comment from an attorney listed as representing Cushingberry wasn't immediately returned Wednesday.

Cushingberry told police he didn't intend to kill the letter carrier but wanted to scare her, a postal inspector wrote in an affidavit associated with a criminal complaint.

The mail at the home had to be retrieved from a post office about two weeks before the shooting because of the dog, according to the affidavit.