Arlington Man Charged with First-Degree Murder: Police

Arlington County resident Tommie Lee Cummings, 51, faces charges in the murder of a Martinsburg, W. Va. man over the weekend, according to the Martinsburg Police Department.

Cummings was arrested on first-degree murder charges in the death of Edward Arthur Young Jr., 50, according to a Martinsburg Police Department news release.

TV station WHAG reports that Young was strangled to death Saturday and the body was found Sunday. Young’s body was found at about 11 a.m. near the Winchester & Western railroad tracks in the 600 block of West Martin Street in Martinsburg, police said (see map below). His death was determined to be a homicide, according to police. An autopsy is scheduled for Tuesday to determine the cause of death.

Cummings was arrested by members of the U.S. Marshal Service in Arlington County. Arlington County is about 70 miles from Martinsburg. Capt. George Swartwood, with the Martinsburg Police Department, told WHAG that a witness was found who called Cummings.

Cummings will be arraigned as a fugitive from justice on the original homicide warrant obtained by Martinsburg Police Department investigators, according to Martinsburg Police.

Police say they suspect Cummings and Young were involved in an altercation, according to the news release. Police allege that Cummings choked Young to death, according to the release.