Illinois woman identified as victim of 1980s Nashville double homicide

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WSMV) - A woman killed in a double homicide in the 1980s has been identified, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.

Sheila Cummings, 23, of Elgin, Illinois, has been identified as one of the two women found murdered in a Charlotte Avenue home’s basement in 1987.

Cummings and another unidentified woman were murdered by James Shaffer in 1985. Shaffer confessed to the murders after the women were found in shallow graves within the dirt floor basement years after their deaths.

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MNPD said both victims were disinterred in January 2025 for contemporary forensic analysis.

Two days before DNA samples were collected from the victims, a woman called the Cold Case Unit after seeing information online. She reported her mother had been missing since 1984.

DNA samples were collected from Cummings’ daughters and confirmed to be a match on Wednesday, July 2.

Police are still working to identify the second victim, referred to as “Lil Bit.” Her forensic rendering was released to the public in April.

Lil Bit is a 20 to 40-year-old Black woman. She was 5′7″ tall and had an open-faced gold overlay on her right lateral incisor. She was also wearing a copper Grim reaper ring.

“Anyone with information about her is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 615-742-7463, the MNPD Cold Case Unit at 615-862-7329 or the Davidson County Medical Examiner’s Office at 615-743-1800,” MNPD said.

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