Yard sign for man accused of killing letter carrier quickly removed
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A yard sign made for the man arrested in the killing of an Indianapolis letter carrier has received thousands of shares on social media and controversial responses.
The sign was put up in front of the home on Denny Street where Indianapolis letter carrier Angela Summers was killed April 27. While the sign was only up for a few hours, the damage had already been done.
When neighbors Tuesday morning drove down Denny Street they saw a sign that read “FREE MY SON TONY!”
Tony Cushingberry-Mays was arrested and investigators say he later confessed to shooting and killing Angela Summers after he told police she maced him. He remained in the Marion County jail on Wednesday.
Beverly Newman with Yard Greetings, the company that made and installed the sign, said, “When they first called they were just expressing that they had a family member that was locked up and they wanted him released due to the COVID-19. So, we were under the impression that it was a minor offense, definitely not something that was to this heinous crime.”
Yard Greetings claimed it had no idea why Cushingberry-Mays had been arrested when they put up the sign at 8 a.m. Tuesday. That was until a neighbor called and explained.
“When we took the order we had no idea that, where that had occurred, so we didn’t put two and two together at all,” Newman said.
The company removed the sign before noon the same day.
“In that time, someone had taken a photo, and the photo is now what is circulating and people are still thinking that the sign is still standing to this time right now,” Newman said.
News 8 tried to talk to Cushingberry-May’s family about the sign and the response it has gotten after the photo of the sign was shared thousands of times on social media. While they wouldn’t open the door, someone did yell from inside that she wasn’t trying offend anyone or hurt anyone’s feelings by putting up the sign.
“So we have had numerous e-mails, numerous calls. We have been cursed out. We have been threatened,” Newman said.
The sign company was OK with putting up the sign when they thought Cushingberry-May was only facing minor charges, but they say they couldn’t leave the sign up after knowing the severity of the situation.
“We would not do a sign that had that much drama or emotions behind it,” Newman said.
Yard Greetings says that they refunded Cushingberry-May’s family the money that they paid for the sign and additionally donated to the mail carrier’s funeral funds.
