Demontra Quintez Collins
A detective testified that 34-year-old Demontra Quintez Collins said in a phone call about a man he had quarreled with that "I'm coming in and (he) ain't coming back."
The detective said Collins said in another call, "I'm going to handle that (victim)."
Collins also was talking about a "self-defense" scenario in phone calls prior to the shooting, it was stated.
General Sessions Court Judge Larry Ables bound a charge of criminal homicide to the Grand Jury against Collins in the death of 27-year-old Jamel Daeshun Sutton after a gunfight in the 1200 block of North Hickory Street on May 14.
Diamond Boyd said she had been the girlfriend of Sutton since last September. She said the two of them, as well as Collins, had earlier worked together at a club called The Stump.
She said the day of the slaying that Sutton picked her up along with her children, ages four and less than a year. She said they went to a house on N. Hickory Street.
The witness said Sutton was getting one child out of a car seat and she had the trunk open when Collins suddenly appeared in a white Jeep. She said he jumped out of the vehicle, brandishing a Draco-style weapon, and began firing. She said the Jeep was still running, and it rolled into a mailbox.
She said it sounded like 16-17 shots were fired. She denied seeing a gun on Sutton but police said a 9mm handgun was found along with 9mm shells.
Ms. Boyd said she did not know who fired first.
Police said the victim shot twice and Collins got off as many as 12 shots from the Draco that was described as an AR-type pistol.
Collins called police after the incident that happened shortly after 3:30 p.m. He turned over the Draco to police.
The two men had argued three days earlier, it was stated. Attorney Gerald Webb said it was Mother's Day and Sutton had displayed a gun in a threatening manner toward Collins. He also showed up at his job at Gestamp, it was stated.
Collins claimed he was driving by when he saw Sutton reaching into a vehicle. He said he stopped because he believed Sutton was going for a gun. Bystanders said Sutton was actually adjusting a car seat.
Attorney Webb said Collins graduated from college and had worked eight years for Gestamp. He said he had been in no other criminal trouble.
Collins remains free on a $250,000 bond. He is under a GPS monitor and house arrest.
Judge Ables said he would have set the bond higher had he known at the time of the earlier bond hearing of the Collins phone messages.