Funeral details have been announced for the Banbridge woman murdered in her home last weekend.
Karen Cummings, a 40-year-old mum-of-two, was murdered in her Laurel Heights home last Saturday evening.
Ms Cummings was found unconscious with a serious head injury. The NI Ambulance Service provided medical treatment but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
It is understood she was shot.
She is the 25th woman murdered in Northern Ireland since 2020, and the 7th in 2024.
According to recently released funeral arrangements, Karen’s remains will repose at her grandmother Mary’s residence – 88 Primrose Gardens, Banbridge – on Saturday from 6pm to 10pm and Sunday from 1pm to 9pm.
Her funeral will be held on Monday at 12.15pm for 1pm Requiem Mass in the Church of St Therese, Banbridge.
Burial afterwards will be in in St Patrick’s Cemetery, Dromore Road.
Donations in lieu if desired to DHH Paediatric Fund F511 c/o Patricia Heaney, Heaney Keenan Funeral Directors.
The murder has prompted widespread revulsion across the community, and a GoFundMe page has set up this week by a friend of Karen, to crowdfund in aid of Karen’s two children. So far, it has raised £6,500.
Meanwhile, on Thursday night, hundreds gathered at vigils in Newry and Banbridge to pay tribute to Karen’s life, and call for an end to violence against women.
The vigil held in Solitude Park in Banbridge, organised by Women’s Aid Armagh Down, was addressed by Noel McNally, the father of Natalie McNally, who was murdered in her Lurgan home, almost to the date, two years ago.
Many gathered with candles and the names of women whose lives have also been taken – Natalie McNally, Katie Simpson, and others.
Noel said: “Hopefully we can put a message across that violence against women and girls in Northern Ireland has to come to an end. The more people like you that stand up to these people – the men that do this violence against women – the better.”
Two men accused of the murder appeared in court this week.
Glenn Robert King, 32, of no fixed abode in Lurgan, and Kevin Paul McGuigan, 42, of Annacloy Park in Hillsborough, are both charged with murder.
McGuigan is further charged with possession of a firearm, namely a Baikal double barrel shotgun and ammunition, namely 4 x 12 bore cartridges. He also faces a single count of handling stolen goods.
The court heard that Cummings, a well-respected paediatric nurse at Daisy Hill Hospital, suffered a gunshot wound to her head. Despite the best efforts of paramedics, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
No bail application was made for either of the accused, and both are due back before Banbridge Magistrates’ Court on January 9.
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