La'el Collins news

[12intheBox]

Police are seeking to question LSU offensive lineman La'el Collins following the shooting death of a pregnant woman last week, Baton Rouge police Lt. Jonny Dunnam told ESPN.

Brittany Mills, 29, is believed by police to be a former girlfriend of Collins. Police said Collins is not currently a suspect in the shooting, only that they want to talk to him to see if he can assist with the information.

Collins' attorney, Jim Boren, told police his client is in Chicago, getting ready for the NFL draft. But Boren said he has been in constant contact with the lead detective on the case, he spoke with the district attorney today, and he even has retained the services of a private investigative firm to help him prove that Collins was not close to Mills' home when she was murdered.

"We took the investigation seriously," Boren said from his offices Tuesday. "We've tried to rule him out as a suspect. We're going to provide that information to the police, and ultimately (Collins) will sit down and talk to them. But the timing is poor."

Collins is projected as a first-round pick in Thursday's draft. Sources said a handful of teams have become aware of the incident and would like to know if police determine that Collins is the father of the infant who was delivered after Mills' death. The baby still receiving medical treatment.

Police told the Baton Rouge Advocate newspaper that in investigators believe, from a preliminary investigation, that Mills opened her door to someone who wanted to use her car and was shot multiple times after she refused.

Neighbors said they heard two gunshots about 10:30 p.m. Friday. They said the door to Mills' apartment was ajar when police arrived.

-- Schefter

 

[12intheBox]

Does this move him down at all?

 

[Athos]

There's a special place in hell for fuckers who kill pregnant women.

Hope he isn't connected beyond being the possible father. Because if he is, he'd be (should be) off everyone's draft board.

 

[12intheBox]

At this point, it's kinda too early to tell exactly. It doesn't look like he is involved - but that would suck to spend a #1 on a murder defendant no matter how you feel about red flags.

 

[Memento]

Rest in peace, Brittany. I hope that your child survives, and I hope that the police find the murderer, no matter who they may be.

 

[Mackeyser]

It may affect teams in that he might be a new father dealing with custodial distractions when most rookies need to focus solely on football.

That's just the cold analytical side of things.

 

[Boston Ram]

Does this move him down at all?

I guess it depends on how long it's been since they split. With everything that has happened with Rice, Hardy, Hernandez if there is a chance he is the father and he had anything to do with this, he probably is not a 1st round pick, unless more info comes out.

Sad story regardless.

 

[WestCoastRam]

If I'm his agent, I fax a written copy of his alibi (an alibi) to every team in the draft!

 

[RamBill]

In light of the police wanting to question La'el Collins, who is not considered a suspect, in the shooting death of a pregnant woman, John Clayton discusses how NFL teams are handling this situation ahead of the NFL draft.

Watch Clayton Talk Collins

 

[12intheBox]

Police say they haven’t heard from La’el Collins
Posted by Mike Florio on April 29, 2015, 9:19 PM EDT

Getty Images
Teams that want clarityregarding tackle La’El Collins before the draft starts most likely won’t be getting it.

According to Ross Dellenger and Ben Wallace of the New Orleans Advocate, neither Collins nor his lawyer had contacted detectives in Baton Rouge as of Wednesday evening to schedule an interview regarding the death of 29-year-old Brittney Mills. Police have said that Collins is not a suspect.

As one league source said on Wednesday, if Collins had no connection to the crime of any kind, he should be doing everything he can to meet with police ASAP, so that police can be persuaded to give Collins full clearance before the draft begins. Absent a declaration from the authorities ruling Collins out, how can any team draft him — in any round?

So why is Collins delaying the process? One reasonable conclusion would be that Collins has opted to protect his liberty over his draft stock, which means that Collins has reason to believe that, based on what he tells police, he could still become a suspect.

Notwithstanding the recent quip from Cardinals G.M. Steve Keim regarding the notion that teams would excuse Hannibal Lecter’s behavior as an eating disorder if he could run the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, the NFL has changed since the Ray Rice video emerged in September. Despite the value associated with a first-round talent who slides to round three or lower, embracing someone who hasn’t been cleared of responsibility for the murder of a pregnant woman could set the stage for a P.R. nightmare.

Apart from public relations concerns, what employer would want to hire a person who possibly will be implicated at some point in such a heinous crime? That’s why Collins needs to be cleared before any team can justify hiring him.

 

[jjab360]

This will probably effect his stock quite a bit because it's very unlikely this whole thing is resolved before tomorrow.

 

[JackDRams]

Wonder how far this guy slides if there is no news by tomorrow. Is the third round possible? I think so.

 

[CodeMonkey]

Now it's getting weird.

 

[12intheBox]

@LanceZierlein: Just texted a league executive asking whether or not La'el Collins was clear on his board right now or not. His response, "clearly off"



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[12intheBox]

@AlbertBreer: Spoke with Baton Rouge PD Cpl. Don Coppola a few minutes ago. La'El Collins still has yet to speak to the police there.

 

[Stranger]

As one league source said on Wednesday, if Collins had no connection to the crime of any kind, he should be doing everything he can to meet with police ASAP, so that police can be persuaded to give Collins full clearance before the draft begins.

Our Constitutional system has become a mockery of itself. Sovereign individuals now have to submit to questioning by the authorities in order to live out their God given lives.

By the way, I'm horrified by what happened to that girl, and my comments above by no means are meant to demean her or the crime against her.

 

[kurtfaulk]

Our Constitutional system has become a mockery of itself. Sovereign individuals now have to submit to questioning by the authorities in order to live out their God given lives.

By the way, I'm horrified by what happened to that girl, and my comments above by no means are meant to demean her or the crime against her.

This isn't a normal situation. Nobody cares if some nobody refuses to talk to police. This guy mustn't realise alot of money is on the line if teams don't have a definitive answer on his involvement in this crime.

.

 

[Stranger]

This isn't a normal situation. Nobody cares if some nobody refuses to talk to police. This guy mustn't realise alot of money is on the line if teams don't have a definitive answer on his involvement in this crime.

.

His liberty is on the line. For some, that's more important than money. Perhaps this guy is a man of principles, and the media supposition is all wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Merlin]

Dude has motive, it doesn't look good for him. Ex girlfriend appears before your big payday with threats of you needing to pay up... I would not touch him and cannot imagine teams considering him prior to late, late rounds if at all.

 

[WestCoastRam]

His liberty is on the line. For some, that's more important than money. Perhaps this guy is a man of principles, and the media supposition is all wrong. Wouldn't be the first time.

No man is a man of principles with enough money on the line.