Now part of the Darkcast Network. Welcome to Indie Podcasts With a dark side. At 4:55am on October 21, 2024, a 15 year old boy named Andrew Hummiston called 911 from his family’s home in Fall City, Washington. Out of breath, he told dispatchers, my brother Benjamin just shot my whole family and committed suicide too. He said he was hiding in a bathroom on the main floor of the house and claimed he had waited about 15min minutes after hearing gunshots before calling for help. He sounded panicked, but throughout the call he kept saying he was worried he’d, quote, get in a lot of trouble, mentioning how he’d recently been caught looking at pornography and was failing tests at school. Welcome lambs. Welcome to Love and Heartbreak. To Homicide, the podcast that takes you inside real stories where love turned deadly. I’m, um, Kai and every week we tell true crime cases with the victim in mind. So you might hear a few rants, maybe a few side comments, but always the truth behind the tragedy. Before we get into it, a, uh, quick thank you to everyone who keeps this show going. Love and Murder is completely listener funded. No big network, no sponsors pulling strings. Just me and you, my lamb besties, keeping victim stories alive. Speaking of my besties, I want to thank a lam who left me a five star review on Apple Podcasts in September. When I tell you that I needed your positivity, you have no idea, no idea how much your review meant to me and touched me. Seriously, no idea how you mentally and emotionally helped me. Just with a couple of sentences. There wasn’t a name attached to it, but this, uh, lovely lamb said, oh my God, you make my mornings better and better my day when you post these. I love when you judge the bad guys. It’s funny. Hope you post more. My fav was the guy who left his family but made it look like he died but turned himself in. It was such a simple review, but it meant a lot. So thank you so very much. Now, if you’ve ever finished an episode and thought, why don’t more people know about this podcast or this case or that’s exactly why the Patreon exists. When you join, you’re not just getting bonus episodes, ad free listening and case files. You’re helping us keep these stories from being forgotten. All this and more. Starting only at $3 a month, you can join for free or grab one of our bonus tiers for even more cases@patreon.com loveandmurder don’t forget we have a new bonus in there. That’s available for free and bonus listeners. Patreon.com loveandmurder now grab your butts, grab your delicious glass of apple juice and let’s get into today’s love and murder. Side note, this case is still ongoing, so everything said here is alleged. Cause I ain’t trying to get sued. The Hummington family lived in a beautiful three bedroom, four bathroom mansion with on a half acre lot surrounded by Evergreen on Lake Alice road. A uh, $2 million property they purchased in 2019. Their two story house featured hardwood floors, a fireplace and an expansive basement level family area. Neighbors said that they were a close knit, devoted family who were, quote, very strong Christians. Rhea Robertson, a uh, soccer coach for one of the children said, quote, you thought they were perfect from the outside. They look perfect to me. Mark humminston, who was 43 years old, was originally from Texas and he was an electrical engineer and associate principal at Hargis Engineers in Seattle where he had worked for nearly 20 years. 42 year old Sarah Hummingston was a registered nurse. Although her license had expired at the end of 2022, she had stepped back from her nursing career to focus on homeschooling her five children. The children, despite being homeschooled, were described as, quote, well known and active in the community, enjoying activities like mountain biking and fishing. Neighbors described the children as, quote, polite and well adjusted, often seeing them riding bikes or playing outside the family’s Lake Alice Road community, rarely locked doors and considered the area safe and family friendly. Now pause here. Now I don’t know if it’s just me or the fact that I do true crime, but I don’t care what kind of neighborhood I’m in, I’m locking my damn doors. I don’t care if I live right next to Beyonce, I’m locking my damn doors. I don’t understand this thing with some people who say, oh, it’s such a nice family friendly neighborhood. I think I’ll keep my door open to anyone who wants to walk freely into my home. I mean, I can’t be the only one who thinks this right. Back me up. I mean. Or don’t in the comments below. Uh, anyway, people who knew Andrew described him as, quote, kind, respectful and deeply devoted to his family. From the outside, the Hummiston family appeared to embody suburban tranquility at their Lakeside Falls City residence. But beneath this facade, they ran what was described as, quote, a rigid, militant survival ideology. A household defined by strict religious beliefs, isolation and abuse. The home was, quote, abusive, tightly controlled and dominated by extreme religious Beliefs the children were allegedly, quote, isolated from the outside world and raised to be kept skeptical of the government and medical professionals, especially concerning the COVID 19 vaccine, which with the vaccine I’m not like a hardcore get the vaccine like back then, I mean that was your choice, you know, wear a mask, stay away from people, get the vaccine, don’t get the vaccine. But I wouldn’t call somebody like a conspiracy theorist if they didn’t want to get the vaccine, you know. Also, at some point in time, Sarah’s mother had told police that her daughter, quote, was abusive and demeaning to the children. Court documents later revealed that Sarah’s mother had previously threatened to report her own daughter to authorities if the abuse continued. Which I could dig it because I’m not going to let abuse stand. Andrew was the oldest of five and the only child who was struggling. His grades were dropping steadily over the past year, which was different from his younger siblings who appeared to thrive in homeschooling. Rather than talking about his difficulties, he withdrew emotionally and spent most of his time alone in his room. This retreat became his primary coping mechanism and as he disengaged from family activities and responsibilities, he resented his parents. Mark and Sarah tried to hold their son accountable for his academic performance and household responsibilities. However, Andrew consistently failed to meet these expectations and viewed their guidance not as support but as unfair punishment. He felt like the black sheep believing his siblings received preferential treatment. Guess who just called me and interrupted my recording. Just so rude. Rick. Yes, that Rick. Co host Rick Rude. Right. Anyway, back to the episode. Then one day Sarah found pornography on one of Andrew’s devices and she confronted him. This made Andrew feel humiliated. His father tried to deal with it in a more I understand, you know, let’s talk about it way. But his mother was kind of more like, oh my God, you’re watching porn. And either way, either way you went. He felt humiliated. Now back to the night of October 24th. Just seven minutes after the initial call, at 5:02am another call came in to 91 1, this time from a neighbor. Bradley Dennis told dispatchers that an 11 year old girl who was only identified throughout all the reports as Bah, so that’s what we’re going to call her had shown up at his door covered in blood, screaming that her brother Andrew had killed her family. She had been shot in the neck and hand, but managed to escape through a bedroom window after pretending to be dead. She’d heard Andrew leave the room and get on a phone call and that’s when she got up and escaped. When the dispatcher specifically asked if she was certain the shooter was Andrew, Bah firmly said yes, it was him. When Police arrived at 5:12am they found Andrew outside waiting in the driveway and took him into custody without incident. Inside the Lake Alice Road home, deputies discovered what they could only describe as quote, a scene of unimaginable horror as, uh, they searched for any additional survivors. They found Mark, Sarah and their children, Benjamin, who was 13, 9 year old Joshua and 7 year old Catherine, all dead from gunshot wounds. Mark was lying partly over Joshua near the bedroom stairs. Catherine was close by. Their positioning suggested to investigators that they may have tried to run when they were shot. Sarah was found in the bathroom of the master bedroom upstairs with the door kicked in and surrounded by a pool of blood. Benjamin was positioned to look like he’d shot himself after killing the rest of the family. A, uh, Glock handgun resting in his left hand. Forensic experts noted blood splatter patterns throughout the home consistent with multiple gunshots fired in confined spaces. The bathroom where Sarah’s body was found had the door frame splintered, indicating it had been forcibly opened. Bloodstains and bullet holes marked the back of the bathroom door and a single spent 9 millimeter shell casing with was recovered near the sink. Meanwhile, paramedics transported Bah to a local hospital where she provided additional details to police investigators. At first glance it looked like a murder suicide, but a lot of things didn’t add up. For one, Bah was the sole survivor of the attack and was able to identify Andrew as the shooter. Secondly, forensic experts quickly realized that Benjamin’s wounds were weren’t self inflicted. He had been shot twice from more than two feet away, including one in the back of his head. There were no burn marks around the entries, no gunpowder on his hands and no blood on the gun itself. Details impossible in a suicide. Investigators realized that the murder weapon had been stored in a lockbox within the family home. Bah told detectives that that Andrew was the only one of the children who knew the lockbox code for their father’s gun. In her statement from the hospital, Bah said that she and her sister were sleeping when Andrew came into their room with the Glock. He shot her twice, then left believing she was dead. She waited until she heard him talking on the phone, climbed out the window and ran to the neighbor’s house. As I previously told you, she later told police she had seen Andrew check their family’s bodies, checking for vitals to make sure that they were dead. She’d held her breath and Remained motionless, playing dead while he was doing that. Her report fit the forensic evidence perfectly. Investigators learned that the attack started around 4:30am When Andrew got his father’s handgun and first shot Bah in her room. As I told you already, once in the neck and a second that hit and shattered the bones in her hand. He then went to the basement where Mark, Joshua and Catherine were. Mark, who was lying on the couch, was hit four times, including two penetrating shots to his back and a fatal shot to his neck. This suggested that he may have been trying to protect his children or escape when shot. Both children were killed instantly with single shots to the head. Benjamin rushed towards the noise and was shot twice. Once in the left cheek and once right behind the ear. Finally, Sarah had locked herself in the bathroom, but Andrew kicked the door open and shot her several times. One that entered behind her right ear and exited through her left cheek. The other struck her left temple. When he was done, he staged a scene, placing the gun in Benjamin’s hand before calling 911. Do you know how gruesome that sight has to be? Like you, I know you’ve seen that kind of gore on tv, but we’ve. Well, I’ve. I was going to say we’ve all. I could only speak for myself. I’ve never seen that in person. I’ve only seen it on TV and then heard about it. Do you know how gruesome that has to be to see? There are soldiers who go through PTSD from seeing a scene like this and he just did it and then calmly cleaned up and then calmly fabricated a story to frame his brother and then called 91 1. During the investigation, forensic experts found that in the weeks before the murders, Andrew had searched online for, quote, crime scenes, quote, firearms and, quote, staged, ah, suicides, planning and plotting, plotting and planning. When detectives pieced everything together, they determined Andrew had, quote, systematically murdered his mother, father, two brothers and sister and attempted to murder his other sister. He had even showered and changed clothes before police arrived. On October 24, 2024, Bah was discharged from the hospital. Ironically, on the same day, Andrew was formally charged with five counts of aggravated first degree murder and one count of attempted first degree murder. All counts initially carried a domestic violence designation, but prosecutors later amended four charges to remove this designation for the siblings and for the attempted murder charge, as state law prohibits these charges from moving forward. However, the attempted murder count includes a firearm enhancement, which allows for a greater potential sentence if Andrew is convicted. Judge Joe Capagna was ordered Andrew to be held in secure detention Noting the allegations were of the, quote, gravest possible seriousness and prohibited him from having any contact with Bah. As of now, Andrew has not entered a plea. The prosecution plans to try him as an adult, citing the level of planning and violence. If he’s tried as an adult, each count of aggravated murder carries life without parole. If kept in juvenile court, he could be held until age 25 before possible transfer to an adult facility, or they release him. His defense team is arguing for rehabilitation in juvenile court and has requested time to interview nearly 100 witnesses, saying his home life was abusive and isolated. The court had initially set a decline hearing, which will determine if the case stays in juvenile court or moves to adult court for June 2025. But the defense sought to delay it, saying they wouldn’t have enough time to gather and go through all of the evidence, do interviews, and put together what they called a fair timeline for the court. They said that because the Hummingston family had been isolated from traditional schools, doctors, and the outside world, so gathering information about them has been, quote, particularly challenging and time consuming. They said the lack of outside connections made it harder to find people who could provide background on the family or insight into Andrew’s upbringing. So far, the Defense has identified 98 witnesses they believe need to be interviewed before the decline hearing. But as of, uh, July 21st, they’d only spoken to 22 witnesses. They’re asking for the hearing to be pushed to October 2026. We anticipate that the remaining witness interviews can be completed by April 2026, with forensic and medical evaluations completed by August 2026. We expect to be fully prepared for the decline hearing by October 2026. The state fought back, arguing that while the defense’s requests might be reasonable for preparing a trial, it isn’t necessary for a decline hearing. Ultimately, the judge will decide how much time the defense gets and when the hearing will actually take place. A, uh, status conference was scheduled for January 8, 2025. But so far as I can see, the decline hearing is not yet set, and I don’t see any updates. So my thing, first of all, it’s getting on my nerves that the defense is playing these games. You know, it’s like you know exactly what happened, and, you know, this trial needs to start. You’re allowing surviving family, including Bah, to not have any closure. Also, the defense is coming at this, saying that Andrew grew up in an abusive and isolated atmosphere. But how does that stop you from knowing right from wrong? And before you come at me and start talking about undeveloped prefrontal cortexes. Keep in mind that he realized that he didn’t want to go to jail or be blamed for this. So, number one, he took time to check for vitals of all of his family members. Number two, he took time to stage the scene in what he thought would look like his little brother murdered the entire family and then himself. And finally, number three, he even took time to come up with a backstory of why his little brother did this. Now, the only way the undeveloped prefrontal cortex can be blamed by is for him not having enough sense to know that the pill mill way he went about this frame job would be easily found out. However, also, there are people with developed prefrontal cortexes who do the exact same thing that he just did. So other than that, I give Andrew zero excuses. He knew what he was doing. Now, moving on. I have to say this part. I’m not trying to justify Andrew’s actions whatsoever, but I do have an obligation to give all the information because this is what you do when you run a podcast and you’re given the entire story. I don’t just give one part of the story. I have to give the whole thing. So, with that being said, it was reported that Andrew’s academic struggles weren’t just about grades. According to psychological research examining teen familicide cases, academic failure often serves as a critical trigger, especially in families with high expectations where college attendance is considered mandatory. In Andrew’s case, his decline in performance created a widening gap between his parents expectations and his reality. Also, investigators discovered that in the time before the murders, Andrew had abandoned his schoolwork completely, instead focusing on online activities and video games. This behavior aligns with documented warning signs of adolescents heading towards violent outcomes, particularly the loss of interest in academics coupled with social withdrawal. My research said that teenagers experience academic failure. Family restrictions often trigger homicidal ideation, particularly when limitations are placed on social media access, friend choices, dating relationships, and personal freedom. Now, they said, uh, often trigger homicidal ideation. Blah, blah, blah. I’m, um, not discounting psychologists, but I wouldn’t use the word often in this situation because do you realize how many children across the globe have this same issue? A family who has high academic expectations of their children, abuse and other expectations. How many of them run around killing their entire family? So to me, that’s just another excuse. Plus, I repeat again, how Andrew took his time to plan everything and also try to frame his little brother. Are we going to call this snapping? It’s amazing to me how many people are trying to give him excuses. Now tell me, lambs, am I being too harsh? Maybe. Let me know in the comments because maybe I am. Tell me if you think I’m being too harsh and why. And if you agree with me, well, tell me why that Andrew’s methodical execution of his parents and siblings reveals a, uh, terrifying disconnect between the family’s public Persona and their private reality. Their $2 million lakeside home projected an image of suburban tranquility while concealing deep dysfunction beneath the surface. Though legal proceedings remain ongoing, the justice system now confronts difficult questions about whether to try miss an adult or not. As of now, Mark’s company released a statement mourning his loss, saying that Mark’s, quote, leadership and vision were integral within our firm. Meanwhile, Bah faces the tedious journey of rebuilding her life after witnessing the unimaginable, uh, destruction of her entire family at the hands of her own brother. Her courage in escaping and alerting authorities not only saved her life, but also ensured Andrew would face justice for his actions. And that is the case of a 15 year old boy who some people are trying to make excuses for, but I can’t see why. What do you think of this case? Let me know your thoughts below or in the Patreon. Patreon.com loveandmurder y’ all already heard my thoughts and I want to hear your thoughts because. Ugh. Uh, and you know what? I gotta get back into the habit of reading y’ all’s comments because I fell off of that habit and I really need to get back to it. So I do apologize to my lambs. Now, if you didn’t know, Love and murder is 100% listener funded, which you should know because I said that in the beginning. That means every episode you hear exists because of people just like you who wanted these stories told and these victims remembered. You can join for free or choose one of the bonus tiers to unlock extra content, behind the scenes updates and full Patreon only cases. Just head to patreon.com loveandmurder and be part of the community that makes all of this possible. Did y’ all catch that public bonus I put out on the Patreon on Saturday? I’d seen this study on psychiatry, thought it was very interesting and I wanted to talk about it in the Patreon. It’s public from my free and paying Patreon, so sign up today. Patreon.com loveandmurder now, like I like to remind you, at the end of every full episode, say it with me now. It’s all love and no Murder. Y’, all, thank you so much for listening all the way to the end. Thank you to those who left me reviews. If you want to leave me a review, just leave it on whatever platform you’re on. If you can’t leave a review on your platform, then you can email me. Thank you for always supporting, uh, Love and Murder, and I’ll see you, uh, in the next episode. Bye.