Tiffany Cole By: John Stenglin
Background Born December 3, born in Florida - Parents are unknown/ not available Lived in a broken home - parents fought a lot - lived in a run down house - kind of a loner (not a lot of friends) Hobbies - girl scouts -playing the flute Physically abused by parents Left home as a teenager (age 12) - dropped out of school Turned to drugs/prostitution Was an alcoholic Lived on the street for awhile Was in and out of rehab
Crimes CRIME Kidnapping First-degree murder Robbery DATE March 5, March 5, March 5, 2005 VICTIM(s) Carol and Reggie Sumner Carol and Reggie Sumner Carol and Reggie Sumnerx PUNISHMENT Life in prison Two death sentences Life in Prison Overall she received a punishment of death by lethal injection Currently waiting on death row in Florida
March 5, 2005 Seemed like any other day for Carol and Reggie Sumner Tiffany Cole had been their neighbor when they lived in South Carolina Sumner’s had since then moved to Jacksonville, Florida Cole and her boyfriend were staying at the Sumner home temporarily while they were buying a car there in Florida Cole and 3 men (1 being her boyfriend) showed up to the house at nightfall Reggie Sumner was forced to give up his ATM card and its access numbers Carol and Reggie Sumner were both gagged with duct tape Cole and the men robbed the house (jewelry, money, valuables, etc.) Sumners were then thrown in the back of Cole’s new car Cole drove them across state lines to Georgia The 3 men dug a big hole in the ground Threw Sumner’s is hole and buried them alive Premeditated murder
Evidence of Crimes The Sumner’s one daughter hadn’t heard from her parents In a few weeks - she called the cops to investigate -signs of robbery/kidnapping in the house Saw significant amounts of money coming out of their account Police tracked down the card back to a hotel were Cole and the 3 men were hiding at At hotel room was possessions of the victims such as ID’s, credit cards, check books, etc. Cole claimed she never even knew the victims Cole also claimed that she had no part in the murders The court felt otherwise and she was sentenced to the Death Penalty by lethal injection
Differential- Association Theory Differential- Association Theory- The idea that someone’s behavior is learned/taught to them from their upbringing Tiffany Cole had grown up in a broken home Her parents abused her (which could possibly explain her need for murder) Her family was fairly poor (which could explain the robbery) She was never taught society’s standards of what is right and wrong - didn’t have a great childhood - was an alcoholic/drug addict
Lengthy book story about Tiffany Cole on this website Vocab - First degree murder- Unlawful killing that is both willful and premeditated - premeditated- thought out ahead of time