Woman killed by train in Norman was working as informant, sister says

A bureau spokesman said Susie Mae Cunningham was not an actual informant but confirmed that one of its agents had been in contact with her.

Cunningham, who was identified by Norman police on Tuesday, had tried to commit suicide several times before, her sister said, although video footage of the fatal accident apparently shows her trying to elude the train at the last second.

Cunningham's body was found near the Main Street rail crossing, police said.

Amy Fuentes, the dead woman's sister, said Cunningham was severely abused as a child. She said the family moved around before she and her sister finished school in the Woodward area and that most of her family still lives in Oklahoma.

Fuentes, who lives in Massachusetts, described her sister as a person who struggled most of her life with mental health issues. She said Cunningham was “a really bad self-mutilator.” She spent several years in prison and tried to hang herself while incarcerated, Fuentes said.

An inmate profile on the state Corrections Department's website shows she had numerous “self-inflicted” knife wounds to her left arm.

With her sister's past, Fuentes said she was shocked to learn that the bureau was meeting with Cunningham and listening to what she had to say.

Fuentes said her sister was in contact with a female bureau agent.

“She had to be aware, you know, of the mental state my sister was in,” Fuentes said. “She's always had problems … she had a very bad childhood. I just can't believe they would let her do that.”

Cunningham had multiple felony convictions dat ing back to 1998. She was convicted of assault and battery with a deadly weapon in 2000, state records show.

Mark Woodward, bureau spokesman, denied that Cunningham was a full-fledged informant but acknowledged the agency had a working relationship with the deceased woman.

“She had conversations with our agent about possible drug and prostitution/human trafficking activity,” Woodward said in a statement. “No, she was not an OBN informant. She did have some conversations with one of our agents, but she was not an informant.

Woodward said the bureau does “extensive backgrounds and screenings with all our informants.”