South Messenger - July 24th, 2022

PAGE 8 - SOUTH MESSENGER - July 24, 2022
Kendall Collins is a survivor
www.columbusmessenger.com
By Linda Dillman
Staff Writer
There are many chapters to the story of
Kendall Collins, a woman shot 15 times by
her estranged husband in 2015 and left for
dead by the side of the road near the
Groveport Recreation Center.
Domestic abuse, a plea deal with a
lawyer that never should have happened,
gun violence, three months in Grant
Hospital and a series of 31 corrective surgeries
over seven years with more planned
are all a part of her life.
But Collins is the first person to tell you
that she is a survivor because of her family,
faith and fortitude.
The Lockbourne resident and her former
husband were high school sweethearts who
met in 2000.
“All throughout high school we dated
and attended two proms together,” recalled
Collins. “We had a seemingly normal relationship,
young love you could say. From
the beginning he was controlling and jealous,
but I thought that meant he loved me.
We stayed together for many years with
rough patches and many break ups.”
The couple had two children. Their relationship
continued to deteriorate, eventually
leading to multiple separations.
“In 2013 we hit a breaking point...he
locked me in my room while my children
were in the living room,” said Collins. “We
ended up getting into a fight that began
with him tackling me to the ground. I called
the police that night and he was arrested
and taken to jail for domestic violence.”
At his court hearing, he faced a felony
charge. However, Collins’ lawyer advised
her to lower the charges to a criminal mischief–a
misdemeanor instead of a felony.
“The lawyer said he would be court
ordered to attend counselling and would
have to complete anger management courses.
I agreed to lower the charges down to a
misdemeanor,” said Collins. “He attended
his counseling faithfully for the year and he
seemed to benefit from it. He seemed happier
and was less aggressive towards me
verbally and we did not have any other
physical fights during that time.”
After the year was up, Collins said he
fell back into his previous pattern of
aggression. She filed for divorce in the summer
of 2015 and on Sept. 10 of that year,
her life changed forever.
Because the domestic abuse charges
were reduced to criminal mischief, her former
husband was able to buy a gun legally
at a gun store two days before he shot
Collins eight times in her right leg, three
times in the right arm, one time in the
stomach, once in the chest, once in the
lower back and once in the pelvic bone.
“We had just had a meeting two days
before (Sept. 8) with the lawyers and had
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Messenger photo by Linda Dillman
Kendall Collins of Lockbourne stands near a field by the Groveport Recreation
Center where she was shot 15 times in the early morning hours of Sept. 10, 2015.
signed paperwork for custody of the kids
and how we would separate the assets,”
said Collins. “After church, he called and
asked if I could meet him at Arby’s on Alum
Creek to give me money for the kids. I
agreed to meet him after the kids were
asleep at my mom’s house.”
As soon as he got inside Collins’ car, she
realized the meeting was a mistake. She
said he began screaming as she turned onto
Groveport Road.
“He did not let up as we drove a little
further,” Collins recalled. “I was finally fed
up with his yelling and I told him that I
loved him, but I was no longer in love with
him. At that point he pulled out the gun
and laid it on his lap pointing it at me. I
remember how shiny it was, and it scared
me as I screamed. I remembered that there
was a cornfield beside the rec center, and I
thought that I could run and hide in the
cornfield to get away from him in the darkness
of the night.”
She was about to open her door and run
when she saw police lights coming towards
her and did not know what to do. If she ran,
she thought the police might think she was
running away from them.
It was around 2:30 a.m.
“As I came to the stop sign, the police
had their lights on my car. My (former)
husband picked up the gun and cocked it.
Without thinking I reached over to him and
said ‘Put the gun away. We can get out of
this.’ He looked at me and said, ‘I’m sorry it
has to be this way.”
Groveport Police Sgt. Josh Guiler was
responding to another call when Guiler saw
Collins’ auto in the recreation center driveway
facing southbound near a stop sign. He
watched her former husband attempt to
exit the car and then heard the distinctive
sound of a firearm hitting the pavement.
“I then pulled my service weapon out
and started to command him not to pick up
the gun,” said Guiler. “I saw him reach for
the gun and as he did, he stayed ducked
down behind the passenger door. At this
point I believed he was going to grab the
gun and either come up shooting at me or
take off running.”
Guiler found what happened next unbelievable.
“I saw his back turn as if he were going
to run away from the vehicle,” said Guiler.
“He then fired two shots into the vehicle
which I believe hit Kendall Collins and ran
to the rear of Kendall’s car. I then could
see him looking through the back windshield
for her. I then made a split second
decision to fire a shot through the front
windshield towards him hoping to pin him
down. While waiting on back-up I was very
focused watching for him to come back up.
I then saw Kendall crawling from the driver
seat to the passenger side of the vehicle.
I yelled for her to stay in the car but she fell
out on the ground in the fetal position facing
him and the rear of the vehicle.”
Guiler said as soon as Kendall hit the
pavement, her former husband fired several
rounds at her, never coming up from behind
the vehicle. Guiler said he felt hopeless at
this point thinking he could not get to her in
time due to the distance between them.
“After he shot her several times, I knew
I had to get to her,” said Guiler. “He finally
jumped up from behind the vehicle and
started running away pointing his firearm
See SURVIVOR, page 9