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Tyler Collins, 22, is accused of killing a man during a robbery in 2016.
Tyler Collins, 22, is accused of killing a man during a robbery in 2016.
Crime incidents per 100,000 residents: 3,533
Crime incidents per 100,000 residents: 3,533
A trail of fake cash and an ID card led police to a man who now faces a capital murder charge in a fatal shooting that occurred during a drug deal turned robbery last year.
Tyler Collins, 22, who was arrested Thursday, was charged Friday with capital murder in the death of Thomas Mirone III. According to an affidavit, Mirone died from gunshot wounds he sustained inside a house on Copper Hollow, where the attempted deal took place on Aug. 24, 2016.
Collins allegedly shot a second victim during the confrontation, but Converse police have not released the identity and status of that individual. Police said Collins was assisted in the shooting by at least one other armed suspect, whom officials have yet to identify.
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The dispute started, police said, over Collins’ attempt to scam Mirone out of “bags of marijuana” using counterfeit bills. The pair had allegedly exchanged text messages setting up the deal earlier in the day.
According to the affidavit, Collins arrived on the scene with the fake cash, accompanied by at least one accomplice. After arrival, however, the transaction transformed into a robbery, as Collins and his accomplice entered the house — bearing .40-caliber pistols — where Mirone was waiting, the report said.
Collins then allegedly fired “multiple gunshots,” dealing Mirone a fatal wound before he fled the scene with the drugs in a light-colored Dodge Challenger, the affidavit said.
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On Friday, Collins was also hit with additional charges in a similar incident involving a drug deal that took place in 2015, according to a separate affidavit. On Oct. 13, 2015, Collins allegedly robbed and shot another alleged drug dealer during an exchange in a convenience store parking lot in the 100 block of Toepperwein Road.
Collins was charged with felony aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in connection with the October crime, records show.
During that encounter — which took place inside the alleged dealer’s four-door Kia — Collins flashed nearly $5,000 in counterfeit bills in exchange for four pounds of hydroponic marijuana. After the exchange, Collins pulled out a gun and shot the alleged dealer “several times,” the affidavit said.
The man survived his injuries, according to officials.
Police identified Collins as a suspect in both cases due to a series of the suspect’s blunders. In the 2016 shooting, Collins left behind fake bills at the crime scene that bore matching serial numbers to a stack of fake bills pictured in a Facebook image on his profile.
In the 2015 shooting, police found a Social Security card issued to Collins left behind in an abandoned duffel bag of fake bills at the crime scene.
jgerlach@express-news.net
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