TX Dad Indicted on Murder Charge: Shot 14 yo daughter in back with 12 Gauge

[MuffyBee]

lakelander.com
Collins re-indicted on murder charge
August 6, 2014


 Collins re-indicted on murder charge
A Hill County grand jury has re-indicted Edwin Collins Jr. in connection with the shooting death of his 14-year-old daughter, Judith, two years ago near Whitney.

Collins, now 42, was charged with murder after showing up at the Hill County Sheriff's Office the morning of July 24, 2012, with his 17-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter. He told investigators that he had shot and killed Judith in a pasture near their home off FM 933 north of Whitney.

The jury took action to re-indict Collins on Tuesday, July 22, just two days before the second anniversary of the teenager's death.

Waco attorneys David Dumas and David Deaconson were recently appointed special prosecutors on the case after Bill and Susan Johnston withdrew from their special appointment in the case.

Collins had been indicted by Bill Johnston on a murder charge indicating that he "intentionally or knowingly caused the death of an individual."

Deaconson said that the superseding indictment added the language that a person "intends to cause serious bodily injury and commits an act clearly dangerous to human life that causes the death of an individual."

The indictment covers two of the three ways the Texas Penal Code identifies as ways to commit murder in the state, according to the attorney.

An October 6 trial date was recently set for the case in 66th District Court. Deaconson said that he didn’t feel the new indictment would affect the court date.

Collins is represented by Waxahachie attorney Cindy Ermantinger, according to court records. He is free on bond awaiting trial.

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Area-Man-Accused-Of-Killing-Teenage-Daughter-Convicted-Of-Murder-288742371.html
Area Man Accused Of Killing Teenage Daughter Convicted Of Murder
January 15, 2015

HILLSBORO (January 15, 2015) A jury in Hillsboro returned a guilty verdict Thursday afternoon in the murder trial of Edwin Odell Collins, 42, of Whitney, who was charged in the July 24, 2012 shotgun death of his daughter Judith Collins, who was 15 at the time of the shooting.

Collins, who said he and his children were trying to elude someone in the predawn darkness in 2012 when he killed his teenage daughter with a shotgun blast, pleaded not guilty to the charge on Sept. 23, 2013, three weeks after he was indicted.

At the time of the incident, Collins told deputies he shot and killed his daughter with a 12 gauge shotgun while he and his three children were trying to elude someone he claimed was chasing them in the early morning hours of July 24, 2012, an arrest affidavit said.

Collins was charged with murder on the same day in connection with the deadly shooting and was later freed on $500,000 bond, but the Hill County District Attorney's Office didn't receive the case until more than a year later.

The Hill County Sheriff's Office said it didn't forward the results of its investigation to prosecutors until July 2013 because it was waiting for results from evidence processed by the Department of Public Safety crime lab.

A judge appointed Waco lawyers Bill and Susan Johnston to handle the case in response to a request from Hill County District Attorney Mark Pratt for a special prosecutor.

Pratt, who took office in January 2013, said he sought the special prosecutor because he handled a civil protective order against Edwin Collins while serving as county attorney.

Collins told deputies during the investigation that he and his children were trying to elude someone he said was chasing them and eventually ended up running through a dense wooded area while trying to escape, an arrest warrant affidavit said.

At some point Judith screamed and Collins said he fired a shot in the direction of the noise, according to the affidavit.

He said he was standing about 10 feet away from Judith when he fired the shotgun, the affidavit said.

The blast struck her in the back.

The affidavit says Collins knew he had killed his daughter, but says he and the other two children remained hidden in the woods until daylight.

Collins' teenage son eventually led deputies to his sister's body in the wooded area beside a cultivated field at FM 933 and FM 1713.

 

[MuffyBee]

http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/Area-Man-Accused-Of-Killing-Teenage-Daughter-Convicted-Of-Murder-288742371.html
Area Man Accused Of Killing Teenage Daughter Sentenced
January 16, 2015

HILLSBORO (January 16, 2015) A jury in Hillsboro decided on a 40-year prison sentence and a $7,500 fine Friday for Edwin Odell Collins, 42, of Whitney, who was convicted of murder on Thursday in the July 24, 2012 shotgun death of his daughter Judith Collins.

The girl was 15 at the time of the shooting.

Collins, who said he and his children were trying to elude someone in the predawn darkness in 2012 when he killed his teenage daughter with a shotgun blast, pleaded not guilty to the charge on Sept. 23, 2013, three weeks after he was indicted.

At the time of the incident, Collins told deputies he shot and killed his daughter with a 12 gauge shotgun while he and his three children were trying to elude someone he claimed was chasing them in the early morning hours of July 24, 2012, an arrest affidavit said.

Collins was charged with murder on the same day in connection with the deadly shooting and was later freed on $500,000 bond, but the Hill County District Attorney's Office didn't receive the case until more than a year later.

The Hill County Sheriff's Office said it didn't forward the results of its investigation to prosecutors until July 2013 because it was waiting for results from evidence processed by the Department of Public Safety crime lab.

A judge appointed Waco lawyers Bill and Susan Johnston to handle the case in response to a request from Hill County District Attorney Mark Pratt for a special prosecutor.

Pratt, who took office in January 2013, said he sought the special prosecutor because he handled a civil protective order against Edwin Collins while serving as county attorney.

Collins told deputies during the investigation that he and his children were trying to elude someone he said was chasing them and eventually ended up running through a dense wooded area while trying to escape, an arrest warrant affidavit said.

At some point Judith screamed and Collins said he fired a shot in the direction of the noise, according to the affidavit.

He said he was standing about 10 feet away from Judith when he fired the shotgun, the affidavit said.

The blast struck her in the back.
 

[Sister]

This is so sad!