Da'quel Collins
MILWAUKEE - The mother and uncle of Da'quel Collins, a 6-year-old Milwaukee boy who got ahold of a gun and shot himself last year, have now been sentenced.
In court:
The boy's mother, 27-year-old Daquela Collins, pleaded guilty to child neglect and straw purchasing a firearm in May. Judge Michelle Havas sentenced her to three years in prison and three years of extended supervision in July.
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Quintell Collins, the boy's uncle, reached a plea deal with prosecutors in March. The 22-year-old pleaded guilty to child neglect, second-degree recklessly endangering safety and two gun possession felonies, and three other charges were dismissed. Havas sentenced him to 17 years in prison and eight years of extended supervision in May.
Quintell Collins and Daquela Collins
51st and Hope | April 1, 2025
The backstory:
According to a criminal complaint, a woman called 911 and said, "I think my grandson shot himself." She said a loud noise woke her up, and she ran into the living room where she found 6-year-old Da'quel Collins.
When first responders arrived, they found the 6-year-old on the floor with a gun next to his foot. He was pronounced dead at the scene despite life-saving attempts. An autopsy concluded he died from a single gunshot wound.
Police found a bullet hole and determined a shot went through a set of blinds, into a window frame and into a wall. A semiautomatic handgun with a spent casing in the chamber was found on top of a glass bar near a window.
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Surveillance video from a nearby home showed two men leave the home immediately after the shooting. One man, later identified as Quintell Collins, ran into an alley and put a gun underneath a garbage can.
A white Buick was later seen in the alley where the gun was stashed, and two people got out and started searching underneath garbage cans. The same car returned to the alley a second time to check for the gun.
Video captured a male subject, later determined to be Quintell Collins, concealing a firearm underneath a City of Milwaukee garbage can, according to the complaint.
Dig deeper:
Milwaukee police received a tip two days after the shooting that Quintell Collins was at a home near 38th and Glendale. Officers saw him get into a black Jeep with no license plates on the back, and then they tried to pull him over, he took off.
That led to a chase that reached speeds up to 83 mph in a 25 mph zone, during which Quintell Collins ran several stop signs and red lights, drove into oncoming traffic and up onto the sidewalk. It stretched more than three miles before the Jeep hit stop sticks, and he was arrested.
Police interviews
What they're saying:
When police interviewed Quintell Collins, he claimed he was not at the home when the 6-year-old was shot. He denied hiding a gun in an alley and claimed he had no knowledge that there were guns in the home.
Daquela Collins told police that she kept a gun unsecured in a closet of the home. She said she bought it for Quintell Collins, a convicted felon, because he "be into it with people" and "wanted to feel protected." She also said her brother had another gun in the home and armed himself every day.
The Source: Information in this story is from the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office, Wisconsin Circuit Court and prior FOX6 News coverage of the case.