A 71-year-old Cherokee County man has been convicted of a brutal crime against his own spouse, found guilty on all charges of murder that occurred in their home last year. Charles Terry Collins faced a six-day jury trial that culminated in a unanimous decision against him for the death of Deborah Sherry Collins, age 64. The verdict comes after the jury took less than three hours to deliberate the evidence presented against Collins, as reported by WSBTV.
Authorities swooped in to the grisly scene on July 24, 2023, post 2 a.m. to find Collins tightly holding onto a Smith & Wesson .38 special revolver, while his wife lay motionless, a fatal bullet wound to her neck, in their residence off New Light Road in Canton. The convicted man had claimed to the police that his late wife was the one to initially threaten him with a knife – a justification, he argued, for his pulling of the trigger in self-defense. Nonetheless, police stated, as they were quickly to find out, that Collins made no attempt to desperately save her life or even to so much as dial 911 in the aftermath. WSBTV recounts the police's findings on the case.
The trial saw the presentation of over 300 exhibits – a panoply of 911 recordings, crime scene photographs, and definitive physical evidence stacking against Collins. He faced several charges including malice murder, felony murder, family violence aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Each piece of evidence played its role in painting a narrative far removed from self-defense.
During the proceedings, no less than 21 witnesses were to take the stand, their testimonies weaving together the events leading up to the moment Deborah was shot. Moreover, crime scene investigators testified that she was not, in fact, holding a knife at the time of her death, contradicting Collins's self-defense claim. Details provided by FOX 5 Atlanta shed light on the inconsistencies that emerged during the trial.
Collins is slated to receive his sentence later this week.
