LANSING, MI – Two people convicted of Genesee County homicides have been released on parole after previously being granted clemency by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.
John Eric Aslin, who served 38 years behind bars after being sentenced to life without the possibility of parole after scaring a woman to death when she had a heart attack during an unarmed robbery he committed, was released Tuesday, March 14, according to Michigan Department of Corrections records.
On the same day, LaDonna Renee Cummings, a woman who served 15 years in prison after being sentenced to life without parole, was released, records show.
Both prisoners were among 22 people granted clemency in December 2022 by Whitmer.
John Aslin
A jury in December 1984 convicted Aslin of first-degree murder with no chance of parole in what has been considered a landmark case; even though Aslin never used a traditional weapon, he was still charged with murder.
Aslin has said he never meant to harm the woman, 76-year-old Ella Stephens. Police found the woman dying after a May 21 burglary at her West Cass Avenue home in Mt. Morris Township.
Related: Murder victim’s sons fight to keep “fear killer” in prison
While there were no outward signs of injury, pathologists later said she died of a heart attack brought on by the break-in and robbery.
The then-21-year-old Aslin was arrested weeks later. His case would eventually go before a jury, where Aslin would be convicted.
LaDonna Cummings
Cummings was 32 years old when then-Judge Judith A. Fullerton sentenced her to life without parole in the death of her boyfriend, 34-year-old Terrence T. Saines.
Saines was shot at around 2 a.m. on July 13, 2005, on East Russell Avenue after he and Cummings got into an argument, according to Flint Journal archives.
The couple had been together off and on for 12 years.
Related: 17 years after life sentence, Flint woman has chance for clemency
Testimony at trial from Celeste Redmond, Saines’ mother, indicated that Cummings had told her in the days leading up to the homicide that she should buy a black dress because she would soon be attending a funeral.
Another witness testified that they were on the phone and listened as Saines pleaded for his life as Cummings apparently held him at gunpoint, eventually pulling the trigger.
Jurors rejected a self-defense theory put forth by Cummings and her defense team at trial based on the fact that Saines had been shot four times – including three times in the back.
Hours after the shooting, Cummings walked into the Flint police station and told officers, “I shot my baby’s daddy.”
Read more at The Flint Journal:
No one injured after reports of shooting at Dryden Township home, police say
Cash reward offered for information in Flint man’s 2019 homicide
Exam date set for Michigan man accused of killing toddler son, leaving body in ditch
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