Editor's note: This story explores suicide, including details of one person's attempts at suicide. If you are at risk, please stop here and contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline for support at 1-800-273-8255.
Michael Cummins was in a jail cell in late August 2013, blood streaming down his head and face, alerting officers that the voices in his head were telling him to hurt himself.
He had been arrested that month and charged with domestic assault after attacking his aunt.
Cummins attempted suicide five times in jail and harmed himself on several other occasions in just a little over a month, Tennessee Department of Correction records show.
Less than six years later, he would be accused of brutally killing eight people in the small Middle Tennessee community of Westmoreland. Cummins was on probation at the time of the deaths and had failed to get an ordered mental health evaluation.
A review of more than 100 pages of state records points to a history of violent mental health issues, though all records released to the USA TODAY Network - Tennessee indicate Cummins was a harm only to himself while in jail.
Related: Michael Cummins: Before 8 homicide charges, a life of poverty, stalking and attempted suicide
Cummins was frequently placed on suicide watch during the late summer of 2013 and at times was taken to Sumner Regional Medical Center for observation and treatment.
Officers often were required to perform suicide checks on Cummins every five minutes and once found him pacing naked in his cell. They saw him beat his head against hard objects on several occasions.
He told them things like "I need help," "I'm ready to die," "The devil and demons are in (my) cell and talking to (me)" and "Please make it stop."
More suicide attempts, violence in 2017
After 2013, Department of Correction records on Cummins come to a halt until he reappears in February 2017 after he was arrested for stealing a neighbor's turkey.
In the short time he spent in jail for that offense, Cummins again harmed himself several times, told officers he "might as well just kill his (expletive) self," and attempted suicide at least once.
Cummins told an officer on March 6, 2017, that "although he did not wish to harm himself, he was not feeling right in the head," according to an incident report from the Sumner County Jail.
The officer began watching Cummins, who was already on suicide watch and checked every five minutes, even closer.
Still, while the officer was passing out food to other inmates, Cummins was found with his head face down in his toilet. A day later, officers found him sipping and licking an empty bottle of floor cleaner he told officers he drank. Another inmate told officers he saw Cummins drink the entire bottle.
Records released to The Tennessean do not indicate Cummins was ever transported to the hospital for care during that time.
After Cummins was released from jail, he was placed on probation but arrested shortly thereafter in May for robbing his mother and grandmother of painkillers. His state probation record does not include any reports from that short stay in jail.
Cummins was arrested again in September 2017 after he tried to burn down his neighbor's house and assaulted her when she tried to put out the fire.
In that case, Cummins pleaded no contest to aggravated assault and attempted arson and spent a little more than a year behind bars before being released in January of this year.
State records show that on Sept. 14, 2017, just a day after his arrest, Cummins told officers he swallowed 10 batteries and was taken to Sumner Regional Medical Center. He was scheduled to have surgery on Sept. 15, but the doctor decided surgery was unnecessary because the swallowed items "moved through his intestines," according to the report. Cummins began acting strangely, the report states, "constantly rocking back and forth in the bed and saying that he needed to go to Vanderbilt."
Reports again described Cummins banging his head against walls and doors, and indicated he was often on suicide watch. On Oct. 1, 2017, he told officers, "I need some mental health," according to a report.
That was the last report about Cummins acting violently in his state corrections records.
Other reports indicated he stole items from other inmates' cells and was at least once beaten for stealing. He was found snorting a crushed pill and attempting to tattoo himself. But none of the records indicate he was ever violent to anyone other than himself while incarcerated.
County jails and mental health services
Larger counties often have more resources to provide mental health services to inmates in their jails, explained Jim Hart, jail management consultant with the University of Tennessee County Technical Assistance Service.
Often, larger counties contract with health care agencies to provide on-site staff, including mental health care professionals, he explained.
Michael Cummins puts his head in his hands during his second hearing May 29, 2019, in Gallatin. Charges include one count each of criminal homicide, theft of property $10,000 to $60,000 and attempted first-degree murder, and seven counts of first-degree murder.Buy Photo
Michael Cummins puts his head in his hands during his second hearing May 29, 2019, in Gallatin. Charges include one count each of criminal homicide, theft of property $10,000 to $60,000 and attempted first-degree murder, and seven counts of first-degree murder. (Photo: Larry McCormack/The Tennessean )
"By having resources more at your disposal rather than relying on an external entity, you have better coverage, more consistent coverage, more day-to-day coverage of those inmates," Hart said.
Contracts may also include training for corrections staff so they can better recognize and deal with inmates who are suicidal or having mental health issues.
Whenjails have to rely on off-site help, inmates get less exposure to mental health care, Hart said.
Inmates may get a referral to a provider, but it could be for a one-time meeting.
"That's the nature of it," he said. "They're an inmate and getting referred because of something significant."
In Sumner County, Sheriff Sonny Weatherford said inmates experiencing mental health crises are transported to Sumner Regional Medical Center, where a doctor examines them and then directs what care comes next.
The jail has medical staff on-site, but not mental health staff, Weatherford said.
Calls to Jail Administrator Sonya Troutt were not returned.
Failure to comply with probation requirements
After his release in January, Cummins was put on probation and ordered to get a mental health evaluation, which he never did.
Records show Cummins signed monthly probation forms in February and March.
But on April 10, Cummins fled from his home on Charles Brown Road when officers attempted a home visit. Two days later, he failed to report to his probation officer, and several attempts to reach Cummins by phone were unsuccessful, records show.
On April 26, Cummins' probation officer completed a probation violation report.
"The judge was unavailable to sign the warrant and the warrant is being taken Monday morning for signature," a note from April 26 states.
But Monday was too late.
Over the weekend, Sumner County officials and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation would find the bodies of seven people at two crime scenes in rural Westmoreland:
Cummins' parents, Clara and David Cummins
His uncle Charles Hosale
Hosale's girlfriend, Rachel McGlothlin-Pee
Her mother, Marsha Nuckols
Her 12-year-old daughter, Sapphire McGlothlin-Pee
Cummins' neighbor Shirley B. Fehrle
More than a week earlier, James Fox Dunn Jr. was found dead outside his burned cabin.
Read more about the investigation: Sumner County authorities found Jim Dunn headless but didn't tell public until 7 more died
Cummins, who over the span of five years had attempted suicide at least six times, was by Monday the suspect in what officials have called the most deadly mass killing in Tennessee.
Regional Editor Amy Nixon can be reached at
anixon@gannett.com or 615-946-7549.