NORWICH – With recommendation from the victim, the court approved a request made by the Public Defender’s Office to move a teen-ager’s attempted murder case back into the family court system.
Fourteen-year-old Ty A. Tumminia, Norwich, had been charged with second-degree attempted murder after being arrested April 1. The teen attacked his mother first with a phone cord and then with his bare hands in an attempt to strangle her because she refused to allow him to visit his girlfriend in Iowa. The mother was left unconscious and thought to be dead by her son.
Norwich City Police responded to the home at 80 South Broad St. and discovered the mother unconscious within moments of the incident because the defendant’s younger brother called 911 after hearing his mother’s cries for help during the attack.
Officials had said repeatedly the mother “would have most likely have died if it was not for the arrival of police.”
The teenager fled the scene when the PD arrived and the officers were too busy attending to the victim to pursue him. The New York State Troopers discovered Tumminia along Rt. 12 just south of the city and took him into custody a short time later.
Public Defender Alan Gordon asked the court to move the case back to Family Court, citing the results from the mental evaluation and the feedback from the family.
District Attorney Joseph McBride had wanted to prosecute the teen-ager as an adult for attempted 2nd degree murder, but did not object to the move.
The mother was taken to the emergency room at Chenango Memorial Hospital after the incident. She has since been released and made both a strong emotional and complete physical recovery, said County Court Judge Howard Sullivan.
In his confession, Tumminia admitted he had premeditated the attack, discussing his desire to kill his mother with his girlfriend over the phone. Later he attacked his mother while she slept, with a telephone cord, fighting with her for a few minutes. The cord broke and the boy then resorted to choking his mother with his bare hands until she passed out. Believing she was dead, the boy began moving her body into her bed to make it appear she was simply asleep and at that time, two Norwich Police Officers appeared in the doorway.
“At about 10:30 p.m., I went to my mother’s bedroom. Her door was open, but the outside light was on. I could see her sleeping on the bed ... I jumped on her and tried to choke her with the phone cord ... She was fighting me the entire time and I was able to get the cord around her neck ... She was able to yell for my brother to call 911 and then shortly after that, she stopped fighting. I thought I had killed her ...,” said the defendant in a court statement.
The teen remains at the Hillbrook Detention Center where he was remanded to after his last court appearance and will not be released until receiving further mental treatment. His fate will now be decided at a future date as a youthful offender in the family court room. The court appointed Gordon to also represent him as a law guardian in Family Court.