NEW BOSTON, Texas–A Bowie County jury began hearing testimony Wednesday in the trial of a Texarkana teen accused of fatally shooting two others and wounding a third in December 2021.
Kevonte Collins, 18, was less than a month shy of his seventeenth birthday when he allegedly shot and killed DeAngelo Handy, 18, and Rickalon Young, 18, at a house in the 1900 block of W. 13th St. in Texarkana, Texas, on Dec. 13, 2021, court records show. A third shooting victim, 17, was found in the yard suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, including one to his neck, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police found the 17-year-old near 13th St. where callers had reported seeing a bleeding young man attempting to wave down cars at about 5 p.m. He was treated at a Texarkana hospital before being airlifted to Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, according to a May 2022 press statement from the Texarkana Texas Police Dept.
Inside the house, officers found Handy deceased upstairs. Young was found downstairs and taken to a local hospital where he later died.
Collins, who had allegedly been seen running from the house with a long gun and an extended magazine, was quickly identified as a suspect in the shooting. Another witness allegedly told investigators that Collins believed Young, Handy and the injured 17-year-old had set him up to be robbed.
He was arrested in DeSoto, Texas, on May 1 and has been in custody since with bonds totaling $1.3 million. Because of his age, 16, at the time of the deaths, Collins is ineligible to receive the death penalty under state and federal law if convicted of capital murder. Offenders convicted of committing capital murder while under age 18 in Texas may be sentenced to life in prison with parole possible after 40 years.
If convicted of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of the 17-year-old, Collins faces two to 20 years in prison.
Jury selection in the case wrapped up Tuesday before 5th District Judge Bill Miller at the Bowie County courthouse in New Boston. Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter is representing the state and Collins is represented by Texarkana lawyer Josh Potter, who is serving through a court appointment.
