A Clay County man accused of murder in the death of a Golden Triangle high school student wants a jury trial.
Tavaris Collins, 34, of West Point, rejected a plea deal in Lowndes County Circuit Court on Friday. He is charged in the 2012 shooting death of 16-year-old Starkville High School student Devin Mitchell.
District Attorney Forrest Allgood offered Collins an opportunity to plead guilty to second-degree murder, which would have carried a 40-year sentence without parole. Allgood said Collins said through his attorney that he planned to take the plea on Friday. But standing before Circuit Judge James Kitchens on Friday, Collins changed his mind.
“The guy indicated earlier that he was going to come in (Friday) and plead guilty,” Allgood told The Dispatch after the hearing. “He came to the courthouse today and decided, ‘Maybe I don’t want to do that after all.’ This happens, from time to time. It’s actually pretty common.”
Kitchens explained to Collins during Friday’s hearing that he wouldn’t get another chance to plead guilty before his trial begins May 4 in New Albany.
By rejecting the plea deal, Collins now faces a first-degree murder charge, which carries a life sentence without parole if convicted. He also faces two counts of weapon possession by a felon, which carries up to 10 years in prison per charge.
“There’s no plea offer this court will accept after this day,” Kitchens said during Friday’s hearing. “We’re going to try the case to its completion.”
According to West Point police, Collins shot and killed Mitchell in the early morning of New Year’s Day 2012 as the victim was shooting fireworks at the Ridgewood Apartments complex on East Main Street in West Point.
Mitchell suffered a gunshot wound to the head and later died at North Mississippi Medical Center in Tupelo. Police said Mitchell wasn’t involved in any criminal activity at the time. He was simply standing outside an apartment when Collins fired the shots.
Collins told police he heard the fireworks and mistook them as “an assailant” firing gunshots at him. He said he didn’t live at the apartment complex but was visiting an acquaintance at the time.
Jackson attorney Kevin Camp, who is representing Collins, told the Dispatch at Friday’s hearing that his client maintains his innocence.
“Basically, he just wants his day in court,” Camp said. “He believes he is not guilty of the crimes he is charged with.”
Even if Collins had accepted the plea deal, he would have likely remained in prison until he was 74. Allgood acknowledged Friday the possibility of that being a de facto life sentence, but he didn’t believe his plea offer was too harsh.
“He killed a man,” Allgood said. “I don’t think it was taking a ‘hard line’ at all.”
Zack Plair is the managing editor for The Dispatch.
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