Former Ole Miss student convicted of killing University police officer released from prison

Published 1:47 pm Thursday, January 21, 2021

After serving 14 years of a 20-year sentence, Daniel Cummings is no longer in prison.

Cummings was released from the Mississippi State Penitentiary at Parchman on Thursday at 10:25 a.m. on unsupervised custody, according to Mississippi Department of Corrections.

The release was part of the Earned Release Supervision Program by MDOC.

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The former University of Mississippi Student pleaded guilty to manslaughter by culpable negligence in 2007 for the Oct. 26, 2006 killing of Robert Langley, a police officer with the University.

Langley, who was 30 at the time of his death, pulled Cummings over for a traffic stop on West Jackson Avenue when Cummings pulled away suddenly and dragged Langley over 200 yards. According to prosecutors, Cummings was under the influence of alcohol and drugs at the time of the stop and when he dragged Langley to his death.

In 2017, Cummings was scheduled to be released before then-MDOC commissioner Pelicia E. Hall reversed course and denied the early release.

“The offender was being considered for release under Earned Release Supervision. He is no longer being considered for release,” read a statement from MDOC to the EAGLE regarding the decision at the time.

Langley worked at the University Police Department for four years prior to his death. He was survived by his wife, Lisa, two sons and two stepdaughters.