Johnson man pleads not guilty in daughter’s death

By Lilly Adkins

BSN Associate Editor

PAINTSVILLE — A Van Lear man charged with murdering his 12-year-old daughter in August entered a not-guilty plea at his arraignment Friday and is scheduled for motion hour on Oct. 14.

Stacy Allen Collins, 47, was indicted by a special-called Johnson County Grand Jury on Sept. 6 on one count of murder and one count of kidnapping.

The Commonwealth Attorney’s Office said the charges carry the potential for the death penalty but hasn’t said whether it plans to seek the death penalty.

Collins apparently shot his daughter, Stacia Leigh Collins, and then shot himself on Aug.11. Johnson County Coroner J.R. Frisby confirmed that the body of a Stacia Leigh Collins of Van Lear, who had been reported missing, was found in the Miller’s Creek area of Boons Camp.

Frisby stated that there had been a lot of people out looking for the girl and confirmed that her father had also been found suffering from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

“He shot her and then shot himself,” Frisby said. “He was still alive.”

A release issued at the time by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office said that deputies responded to a reported assault in the Van Lear community of Johnson County. Upon their arrival, they discovered Stacy Collins suffering from what was believed to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Collins was taken to Highlands ARH Hospital, and officers continued to search for the daughter.

After exhausting numerous leads in an attempt to locate the juvenile, the sheriff’s office and Emergency Management Director Gary McClure began assembling search crews in an attempt to locate her, the release said. The search was to initially concentrate in the area that her father was found.

“Sadly, with public assistance, the juvenile was soon located, but was deceased,” a release from the sheriff’s office said.” Remains were transported by the Johnson County Coroner’s Office to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort.”

Saylor said that Stacy Collins was found two to three miles from where his daughter’s body was located.

The case is still under investigation by the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

Collins was taken into custody and lodged in the Big Sandy Regional Detention Center in Johnson County.