The Misery Machine - The Case of Dereck Cummings II aka Antwan Miles

Starting point is 00:00:03 Derek Levan Cummings I was born in Orlando, Florida on November 28, 1991. He was one of three children born to parents Derek Cummings in Tuan and Ware. According to... Yamava Resort and Casino at San Manuel is California's number one entertainment destination for today's superstars. Catch the Jonas Brothers return to the Yamava Theater stage on April 30th, the powerful vocals of Demi Levato on May 17th, and the signature Southern Country Rock of Eric Church on July 19th. Tickets on sale now at Yamava Theater.com

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Starting point is 00:01:50 DRock and Poo Bear. His mother described him as the life of the party in the guy who wanted to be the center of attention. He was educated in the Orange County Public School District and graduated from Dr. Phillips High School. At the time of our story, Derek was 31 years old and a father of four with a fifth child on the way. Derek was well known in his community as an entertainment promoter and community event organizer. He even had a brief stint as a rap artist at one point under his Antoine Miles moniker. In fact, he's got a whole catalog of music still up on YouTube as we speak. He was also described

Starting point is 00:02:26 as a powerful voice and community activist for nonviolence. His music video for the songs Orlando and Orlando 2 speak on the dangers of gun violence and call for peace. The victim's friend Told you at least 20 people he knew died in local shootings. Antoine Miles knows the cost of gun violence. The two of miles friends died just this week. His former neighbor, 47-year-old Jeffrey Webb, died in a shooting outside this 7-11 on North Lane Parkway Sunday night. Then, less than 48 hours later, his friend Shadee Dixon died after deputies, say her ex-boyfriend Marquis Floyd shot her. In the early morning hours of Saturday, January 28, 2023, Derek was about to become a victim of the very thing that he fought so hard to change.

Starting point is 00:03:18 At 5.30 a.m., Derek was shot and killed near the Carrington Park condominiums in Castleberry. According to his mother, Tuan and where, it's not just the family that's hurting, it's Orlando. Whoever did this took a lot from the city of Orlando. Derek was definitely the life of the party. The genuine love they have for Derek, it's been overwhelming. She went on to describe her son as a family man and lamented the fact that his new baby would never get to know his father, saying, the new baby, he's not going to get to know his father.

Starting point is 00:03:49 He's not going to get to know the loving person he is. According to reports from Fox 35 Orlando, detective suggested that the shooting was between Derek and someone that he knew, which seemed odd since he was so well loved and respected in his community. According to Tuanan, being in the promoting business, I'm sure you gain jealousy or things of that nature, but nothing to kill him over. There was no reason. Look what he's done to a family. Children will have to grow up without a father.

Starting point is 00:04:16 One will never meet their father. Now, Tuanan wasn't wrong about the possibility of people being jealous of her son. As we've mentioned previously, Derek was a successful promoter that had gigs lined up all week and was very public about where he was going to be. If you scroll through his Facebook photos, it's pages of flyers promoting. various events at clubs around Central Florida. In the evening of January 27th, Derek would have been promoting an event at La Belle Caribbean Restaurant

Starting point is 00:04:42 in Southland Boulevard in Orlando. On Sunday, January 29th, dozens of community members gathered together in a parking lot to pay their respects to Derek. Memorial was broadcast in local news stations and reporter Stephanie Bufamante took to Twitter to urge anyone with information about Derek's murder to come forward and share what they know

Starting point is 00:05:01 with Crime Line Florida. They want answers to so do investigators with the Castleberry Police Department. This happened on Saturday, and since then, they've been on the search for the killer. You thought this was your run club era. Turns out it was more of a thinking about run club era. The good news? Someone's marathon training is about to start. Sell your workout gear on Deepop.

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Starting point is 00:05:56 His mom, Tijuana Ware, told us 31-year-old Derek Cummings was a father of four, three boys and a girl with another baby on the way. But early Saturday morning, Cummings was found shot to death in the parking lot of his condo community in Castleberry. It's a death that sent ripples through the community. He was a local rapper who went by the stage name Antoine Miles. Six years ago, he spoke out against violence with an interview with us about the death of two of his own friends. It got to start somewhere and it's going to start with us, you know, people like me. Now a victim of violence himself, his family wants justice.

Starting point is 00:06:33 For a man, they say, only wanted to make others smile. The life with the party. Mr. Giggles. Mr. Start everything, you know, to make sure that everybody's having a good time. Police say they know someone knows exactly what happened here in this parking lot area. If that's you, don't hesitate to give them a call. Reporting Live. Q. McCray Channel 9, eyewitness news.

Starting point is 00:06:59 On March 31st, 2023, just over two months after Derek's life was senselessly snuffed out, the Castleberry police held a press conference to discuss two arrest warrants that had been issued for those they believed were involved in the shooting. One suspect, 21-year-old DeQuan Woods, was taken into custody near his home in Apopka, Florida. Another suspect, 28-year-old Bobby Houston Bridges III, was still at large. Bridges was known to live in the Apopka area with ties to Atlanta, Georgia. This is our victim. 31 years of age. Sincely lost his life because somebody, we've been.

Starting point is 00:07:35 believe wanted what he had, which was money. He was a father of four. It's important to know this with a fifth child on the way. Mr. Cummings was just trying to make a living to support himself and his family. We have no indication to suggest that Mr. Cummings had any known ties or relationships to the individuals that committed this murder. Next, Chief Larry Krantz briefs the reporters about what exactly happens on the morning of January 28th, 2023. So as you may be aware, On January 28th to 2023, at about 0 527 hours in the morning, we received multiple calls of gunshots being hurt in the area of the Carrington Park condos, which is located off the Powell Branch Road in our community. When our officers arrived, they located Mr. Cummings lying on a sidewalk

Starting point is 00:08:20 on Cape Verlain with multiple suffering from multiple gunshots. Unfortunately, Mr. Cummings succumbed to those injuries. Chief Krantz shared a bit about Derek's business and what might have prompted the robbery turned homicide. As a promoter, Mr. Cummings was known to have, it's a cash business, and he was known to carry what we believe to be large amounts of cash. Introducing Taco Bell's new jalapino citrus salsa with bright citrus, real red jalapinos, guahillo chilis. Usually, you add sauce to the food, but when the sauce is this good,

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Starting point is 00:09:39 See full terms at mintmobile.com. Which what we believe is what led up to this event. So what the evidence suggests at this time is that when Mr. Cummings parked his vehicle at his complex, he was confronted by these two individuals and attempted to rob him. Now, whether or not they were trying to get him to be to force him back into his apartment or as a condo is unknown, but is possible. Because what we believe, Mr. Cummings, knew that his girlfriend and children were at home, that he made an effort to keep them away from that area.

Starting point is 00:10:09 So during the confrontation, he fled. He fled towards the other end of the complex to get away. And unfortunately, he was shot and succumb to his injuries. We know this through witness testimony and through evidence on the scene, that he did flee from one side from by his apartment to the other end of the complex. And in so doing, he also discarded his keys to his car. which also included other various keys, which very well may have included those to his residents. Again, I think he was heroic in his actions to say,

Starting point is 00:10:32 I don't want these individuals getting into my home where they can hurt my family. Now, just so we're clear, not only was Derek a stand-up guy, but he died a hero protecting his girlfriend and children. The detectives, again, working very, very hard, tried to determine what happened here in this case. Well, they found out that he worked, he left from LaBelle's restaurant down in South Orange County off of OBT after he finished his work there. So they started to look at how we could determine what information we had to identify suspects.

Starting point is 00:11:01 They were able to determine there was some video from the Home Depot at the Southland Boulevard Home Depot. And upon looking and reviewing that video, what they determined was they saw a white car and affinity in the parking lot. The parking lot drove in and out around the parking lot multiple times and probably was there for about 40 minutes. When Mr. Cummings left, that vehicle also had been left. So we suspect that that vehicle did in fact that began to follow Mr. Cummings all the way. from Lavel restaurant on South OVT to his home here off of Howl Branch Road. How do we know that? Well, through the great work of the team, they were able to identify several videos, some business videos that only showed from Home Depot, the car and parking lot of Home Depot,

Starting point is 00:11:40 and then that car, we believe, following Mr. Cummings as it went through an intersection right near his home. We see on video Mr. Cummings driving his Camero through the intersection, followed shortly thereafter by the suspect vehicle, the white infinity. As we will show the video here in a second, you'll see that the car is following Mr. Cummings. And this video will be provided to you after the conference you'll have as well be provided the email. We're just going to fast forward through the press conference to show you the video since the police ended up having a few technical difficulties while playing it. You'll see the car come into frame at the top of the screen in turn.

Starting point is 00:12:19 The police actually have a few shots from Home Depot that were instrumental in tracing the paths that the suspects took on the morning of the 20. Yeah, there's still shots doing it. Next. This is the overhead view from top of the business, the same car coming through. And for orientation purposes, LaBelle's is up to the top right corner of the parking lot. It's in the center of the screen, top center on the screen, it would be the white infinity. Can we assume the Camaro's in front of that white car? The Camaro would have been parked in the top corner by the LaBelle's club. Right now they're just cases in the joints of work?

Starting point is 00:13:14 That's what we believe, yes. That they're, that they're, waiting. Now we'd like to go ahead and stay focused there. What we want to now show you is the video from the local business right near the intersection of the complex. The complex is located at the intersection basically just the east of Lake Howl on the Hal Branch Boulevard. And this is a video depicting that intersection. This episode is brought to you by Palm Olive. Family time isn't just the big moments. It's weeknight dinners. Sitting around the table, everyone talking all at once. So when the plates are empty and the sink is full, use Palm Olive Ultra. Palmolive's most powerful formula removes up to 99.9% of grease,

Starting point is 00:14:00 leaving your dishes sparkling clean. And the new convenient pump makes cleaning even easier so you can spend less time tackling dishes and more time together. Shop now at palmolive.com. Right at the intersection is the victim's vehicle. Right about there, you'll see his brake lights will start to come on to enter the complex. In the car, there's our suspect car. Investigators noticed during this, we're looking at the timestamp on this particular video.

Starting point is 00:14:30 I wanted to note that it is. a little off as it relates to the actual time of the fence and we have confirmed with it that this is about six and a half minutes or so forward of the actual time so this video does depict the actual car going through but it's the timing is off so it's about 525 instead of 531 correct 527 was our first call coming in reporting from the witnesses about the confrontation and gunshots it was the few minutes after the incident you'll see the same infinity heading the opposite direction at what we believe to be high rate of speed.

Starting point is 00:15:07 It's a little choppy, but I feel it paints a decent picture of what the police are trying to illustrate here. Finally, Chief Krantz opens up the floor to questions from reporters. You've got two suspects. Do you know if you had two shooters, you know, if there were two weapons involved? I can't get into all the evidence, but we believe they were both actively involved in the case. So we know he was a promoter of various, you know, events, entertainment events. So this restaurant, it had like some sort of entertainment component where he was provided. that entertainment that night? Is that how they would have know where he was going to be?

Starting point is 00:15:35 Yes. And he advertised such on his own social media as well, that he was that promoter, and he would advertise his events because he wanted to get a drawl for people to come in, obviously, to participate in the night of events, whichever night that might have been. So he certainly did the same for this evening. So it's your belief, investigative that through his own promotion of his events is he's trying to conduct a perfectly legal and appropriate business, that people utilize that information to target? Well, I can't go that far at this point to say that, that they did that deliberately. I would say that they knew he was there and that his business he dealt in cash.

Starting point is 00:16:01 So I think that that was a connection. That they knew he was working, they knew his business. He dealt with money, and they were looking to get that. Did he have no previous contact with him? None that we've been able to determine. Was he seen in the business to know that they were in that business at the time that he was in the business? We have nothing to indicate that our suspects were inside the club at this juncture. But we know that there were, I mean, it's host, social media posts or live little clubs thing from within the club.

Starting point is 00:16:25 That's the normal routine that happens in this particular venue. That's kind of scary for anybody that does something. like where they get cash on hand to do a job? It is. It's very scary. Unfortunately, what motivates these people to act in this way, it dumbfoundes me many times. Why is it that people want what someone else has and they're willing to commit such a heinous act,

Starting point is 00:16:46 even just a robbery without shooting or killing anybody? Why are they so willing to commit such an act in order to take what other people have? And it's wrong, and these people need to serve time in jail, and as far as I'm concerned, they should never see the light of day again. How did you know he was running away from the house to prevent the people from going into it? minding you talk about throwing the keys.

Starting point is 00:17:03 What do you think that says about him? I think he's a very brave man, heroic in his actions, to say, you know, if that's the case, which I believe that's probably what he was doing, to escape that, so that he did not want these individuals to get into his home where his family was. You know, that speaks volumes about the character of the man, who he was, that he was willing to ensure his safety or give up the safety of himself for the safety of his loved ones. And it would appear that even though he was in a cash business and one that would have to come home, very much in the late hours, you never found any gun in his vehicle or on his person.

Starting point is 00:17:35 You don't believe that he traveled with weapons? Our victim? Yes. Yes. Our victim possessed a firearm. Okay. Yes. He was legally permitted to have the firearm?

Starting point is 00:17:48 He just wasn't a position where it happened so fast that he wasn't able to defend himself in this situation. Correct. On Sunday, April 2nd, 2023, just days after a warrant was issued for his arrest, Bobby Houston Bridges III turned himself into the police. Investigators announcing the arrest of a second suspect in the murder case of entertainment promoter Derek Cummings. They say Bobby Houston Bridges turned himself in last night after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Just last week, 21-year-old DeQuan Woods was arrested in Orange County. Castleberry police believed the two tried to rob Cummings and ended up shooting him outside his condo complex in Castleberry in January.

Starting point is 00:18:30 As a promoter, he was known to carry what we believe to be large amounts of cash, which what we believe is what led up to this event. News 6 spoke to Cummings' mother shortly after his murder. She says her son was on the way back from promoting an event and was heading home to his girlfriend and kids. Children now have to grow up without a father. One child will never meet his father. Both suspects are now facing first degree murder charges with attempted robbery with a firearm. DeQuan and Bobby are currently being held at the judge. John E. Polk Correctional Facility in Sanford, Florida. Both have been charged with first-degree

Starting point is 00:19:06 felony murder and attempted robbery with a firearm. Duquan also has an additional charge of third-degree grand theft auto out of Orange County. As their case has yet to go to trial, both men are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. In the wake of Derek's murder, his loved ones created Village of Love, Inc. For their website, Village of Love Inc. was created to provide compassionate support, advocacy, and resources to families who have lost loved ones to senseless violence by empowering them to heal, find hope, and rebuild lives. Through our work, we aim to provide emotional support and culturally competent counseling to families in crisis. Advocate for policy changes, promote gun safety, and connect families to healing and recovery resources. Village of Love is a safe

Starting point is 00:19:51 space to share stories, experiences, and express grief with no judgment. We believe no family should have to navigate through the sudden, untimely death of their loved one without genuine and authentic support with no expiration. Derek's visitation was held on February 10, 2023 at the New Hope Baptist Church in Apocca, Florida. A service held the following day at the New Life Church of God and Christ in Orlando. It was laid to rest at the lone oak cemetery in Leesburg beneath a dark granite headstone that features his image, the Antoine Miles logo, and the phrase, all miles, no breaks. It's flanked by an urn for flowers made from the same dark granite stone. It's etched in part with the phrase,

Starting point is 00:20:33 Focus on Your Blessing Season. This is possibly a reference to Derek's album of a similar name. On October 16, 2025, Derek's mother, Tuan and Ware, made the following post to Facebook. In it, she discusses seeing her son's killer in court. It reads, So this morning I had a chance to see the person who took my son's life for the first time beside seeing pictures of him. My emotions were all over the place.

Starting point is 00:20:58 It was very calm, but in my head I saw myself jumping over the gate trying to get him. This person should have been in jail back in 2021 for life. My son would have been still here with us. Being my mental together for what's to come. This is still so surreal for me. For reference, she's talking about Bobby and his extensive criminal history. The next day, she shared the following post, which reads in part, so today I'm doing much better than yesterday.

Starting point is 00:21:24 Yesterday I had so many emotions going through my head I didn't know what to do. Went home and let them all out until I fell asleep. It's a wonder my eyes are not puffy this morning. But as always, everyone let me know that I'm not going through this by myself. And for that I'm grateful. Thank you all for the phone calls, the text messages, and comments of encouragement, prayers for me and my family, and just allowing me to vent. We have a journey ahead of us, and we are preparing as best as we know how.

Starting point is 00:21:52 As said before, we don't post about our base. for sympathy or likes, and post them to keep their memories with us and y'all. I know my baby was so loved, and I know he is truly missed by everyone. Starting a business can seem like a daunting task, unless you have a partner like Shopify. They have the tools you need to start and grow your business.

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The Misery Machine - The Case of Dereck Cummings II aka Antwan Miles

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