OMAHA, Neb.—A Douglas County judge on Friday ordered a former Nebraska football player held without bail for his alleged involvement in a fatal shooting.
Thunder Collins, 29, is facing first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and weapons charges. Authorities say a drug deal dispute sparked the shooting Tuesday in midtown Omaha that killed Timothy Thomas, 38, and left Marshall Turner, 26, critically injured. Both men are from California. The hospital wouldn’t release Turner’s condition Friday.
Douglas County Prosecutor Don Kleine characterized the incident as a drug deal that turned into a robbery.
“That’s their theory. That’s only a theory,” Collins’ attorney James Martin Davis said Friday.
The shooting occurred after a fist fight, but Collins didn’t shoot anyone or know anything about drugs, Davis said.
“I don’t know that he’s ever had any involvement with drugs,” he said.
Collins and another man, Karnell Burton, 20, were ordered held without bail during a hearing Friday, Kleine said. Preliminary hearings for both men are set for Nov. 7.
Both men were arrested Wednesday. Burton was arrested on suspicion of criminal homicide, attempted first-degree murder and weapons charges.
Police said a third man, Ahmad Johnson, 21, was arrested Friday. He faces first-degree murder, attempted second-degree murder and felony weapons charges, according to the complaint filed by the Douglas County Attorney’s Office.
Two other people have been charged in the alleged drug deal, Kleine said.
Latoya Richardson, 25, is charged with criminal conspiracy. Darryl Reed, 49, is charged with unlawful possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance—according to court records, more than 140 grams of cocaine.
Both Richardson and Reed were arrested early Wednesday, police spokeswoman Lt. Darci Tierney said. They remained in jail Friday.
Collins played for the Cornhuskers from 2000-02. He quit the team after being suspended four games for an undisclosed NCAA rules violation, and he has had a string of run-ins with the law since.
Collins, from Los Angeles, was a junior college All-American in 1998. His best season for the Huskers was in 2001, when he played in 12 games, ran for 647 yards and five touchdowns and caught 19 passes for 189 yards.
A brief stint in the CFL followed Collins’ days with the Cornhuskers.
The allegations have taken Collins by surprise, Davis said.
“One of the first things he told me is never in his life did he think he’d be involved in something so serious,” Davis said.
