Crystal Collins: Mother of 3 gunned down in front of her home
Thirty-six-year-old Crystal Collins, who stood less than 5 feet tall, was like that girlfriend of yours from around the way. A joy to be around. Playful. Kind.
“She was a joy, her laugh was infectious, her personality, she was everything,” her sister Tyheesha Collins, told news media. "She was small in stature but she was a giant."
Collins and some members of her family were gathered just outside her home on Saturday when the worst happened: Somebody drove up and just started shooting. Collins and two of her family members were struck by bullets.
“We had just came from a family function and we were all here and having a good old time, “ says Tyheesha. “Wrong time wrong place.”
But was it?
Who would drive up and just start dumping on a family outside their own home? The death has puzzled family members. "Your kids were her kids. Your kids were her godchildren," her sister told local news.
Minneapolis City Council president Barb Johnson told local media that Collins was not the intended target although that is no solace to those who knew her as well as a community tired of senseless violence and pain.
“My understanding is this lady was not the intended victim,” Johnson told Fox 9 in Minneapolis. “It's just absolutely intolerable. When we hear these things 'the general public is not at risk'… yes we are because this random shooting is going on in our community and it has to stop.”
To make matters worse, Collins' three teenage children all saw their mother gunned down in cold blood. The trio, including the youngest who is 14 years old, is beyond distraught.
“They lost their mom, they lost their way,” Tyheesha told Fox 9. “We lost our heart of the family.”
if anyone knows anything about this murder, please text the MPD (Minneapolis police department) at 847-411.
