Man accused in girlfriend's death takes plea deal, gets over 4 years

GASTON COUNTY, N.C. — It was an emotional day in a Gaston County courtroom as a man charged in his own girlfriend's death accepted a plea deal.

As John Collins stood before a judge accepting his plea deal, the victim's sister Yashika Smith sat in the back of the courtroom crying.

"It's not going to bring my sister back," she said. "I have to live with this every day. My sister is gone."

Her sister, Theresa Sanders, had been dating and living with Collins for decades. Last March, Collins and his brother, Mark, got into a fight with other men outside Sanders home in west Gastonia.

John Collins handed his brother a gun and Mark fired a shot into the crowd, police said.

Sanders was killed. John Collins was devastated.

"He said, 'You shot my girl,' and ran over there to her and was holding her," Smith said.

Smith said this would never happened if John Collins, a convicted felon, didn't have a gun.

"To me, he should have gotten life, because he took my sister's life," Smith said.

He was facing the possibility of life in prison for murder, but he pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to four and a half years.

Sanders' mother, who didn't show up in court Thursday, said her daughter would have never wanted the man she considered a husband in prison for life.

"She felt as though Mr. John Collins deserved a lesser plea," said prosecutor Stephanie Hamlin. "She even wanted lesser time than what was offered."

Smith said she respects her mother's wishes, but she came to court looking for an answer to one question.

"Why, why, why did you give him the gun to do it," Smith said.

She didn't get the answer. Collins accepted his plea and gave no comment.

Mark Collins pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last week. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison.

The brothers will get credit for the 18 months they spent in jail waiting for their cases to be heard.

WSOC