BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Claude Mumbere pleaded guilty on Friday to second-degree murder in the 2023 strangling death of Kelley Cusson in a Burlington park.
A packed courtroom witnessed an emotional day as family members of Cusson confronted their loved one’s killer and expressed frustration at a plea deal they believe doesn’t include enough jail time.
Tina Cusson, the victim’s mother, fought back tears during her nearly 10-minute victim impact statement.
“I can’t call you a human because a human wouldn’t have done what you have done to my beautiful little girl,” she said.
Mumbere showed little emotion throughout the court appearance.
The case dates back to 2023, when police say Mumbere met Kelley Cusson in City Hall Park. Her body was later found a few blocks away in a small park off South Champlain Street. The medical examiner said she was strangled and there were signs of sexual assault.
Police connected Mumbere to the murder using forensic and video evidence.
“I can’t imagine what the last words she had said. Was she screaming for you to stop? Oh, that’s right, she couldn’t. You were strangling her to death,” Tina Cusson said.
Mumbere’s attorney raised doubt about the evidence when an outside forensic pathologist reviewed the case and determined Cusson died of a drug overdose. That led prosecutors to agree to a plea deal and a sentence of 14 years in prison, rather than going to trial, where Mumbere could have gotten 20 years to life.
“All it would take would be one person who believes the defense and we would have a hung jury and we would be back to doing this over again,” Chittenden County Deputy State’s Attorney Sally Adams said.
Despite that, the victim’s mother wanted more time behind bars.
“Your honor, I am pleading with you as a parent, as a human being, and you, a representative of the court. Justice was not done in this court case,” Tina Cusson said.
Vt. Superior Court Judge John Pacht showed compassion, asking to see a picture of the victim after her mother’s statement, but pointed to the agreement the lawyers made.
“The term of years is a compromise that’s reached by parties. Again, and I stress, it’s not a compromise that values her life any less,” the judge said.
Mumbere did not take the opportunity to speak on his own behalf or address the victim’s family.
After the hearing ended, some of Cusson’s family spoke quietly with Mumbere’s family. They would not comment on what was discussed.
MUMBERE’S POETRY BACKGROUND
Some may remember Claude Mumbere from his poetry. The Burlington High School graduate traveled to a national contest in the early 2000s.
“She walks in beauty like the night of cloudless climbs and starry skies,” Mumbere said in archived footage from the competition.
WCAX featured him in 2011 and 2012 when he was a Burlington High School student. He was a two-time winner of Vermont’s Poetry Out Loud competition and went on to place second in the national contest.
