A man who made headlines after his 5-year-old son shot himself with an illegal firearm in their home 3 years ago is now charged with attempted murder and domestic battery for allegedly stabbing his long-time girlfriend inside their River North hotel room Saturday. The woman is also the mother of his child, prosecutors said.
Judge John Lyke ordered Kevin Collins, age 29, held without bail after a bond court hearing Monday in which the judge said prosecutors laid out “a roadmap of escalating domestic violence.”
Collins “poses a real and present threat to this victim and any female he comes in contact with as well as this community,” Lyke said.
Assistant State’s Attorney Franka D’Antignac said Collins and his girlfriend were drinking and spending the night in their room at SpringHill Suites, 410 North Dearborn, when he called 911 to ask for an ambulance.
Police and EMS personnel went to their 17th-floor room around 3:30 am. and found the woman on the couch with a stab wound to her chest, lacerations on her hand, and head trauma, according to D’Antignac and CPD records.
The woman was taken to Northwestern Memorial Hospital in critical condition, but she has stabilized after surgery, D’Antignac said.
She allegedly told police that she remembers Collins punching her in the head during an argument and recalls seeing blood coming from her chest, screaming for help, and realizing he had stabbed her before she lost consciousness.
D’Antignac said Collins had been arrested six times for domestic violence, including five times for incidents involving the woman he allegedly stabbed. None of the cases resulted in conviction because the victims either refused to sign complaints or failed to appear in court, she said.
In 2018, Collins received a two-year prison sentence for possessing a defaced firearm after his five-year-old son found the gun in a bedroom closet and shot himself in the hand, according to D’Antignac and contemporaneous news reports.
The boy was also shot in the face during a 2016 drive-by, WGN reported.
Collins’ previous felony convictions include a three-year sentence for resisting police in 2015 and probation for possessing a controlled substance in 2013.
Lyke noted that the court’s pre-trial services analysis gave Collins a “medium” risk assessment and did not flag him for potential future violence. The judge called those conclusions “headscratchers.”
“Based on everything I heard, it shoulda been high risk — super high risk,” Lyke said.
Collins’ defense attorney said he could afford to post $2,500 to get out of jail. Lyke said the father of three “can keep his money” and then ordered him held without bond.
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