Men charged in killings of 24-year-old Little Rock woman, her two young children

The Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office has charged two suspects in the December killing of a 24-year-old woman and her two young children in Little Rock.

Michael Ivory Collins, 25, and William Burnell Alexander, 21, are charged with three counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated robbery, court records show. The two are suspects in the killing of Mariah Cunningham and her children, 5-year-old Alayah Fisher and 3-year-old Elijah Fisher, who were all found dead Dec. 5 inside their apartment in southwest Little Rock.

Key details remain unknown to the public months after the homicides, including how the three were killed and what led police to identify Collins and Alexander as suspects. In January, police said Alexander and Collins are brothers and reported that Collins knew Cunningham.

Police arrested Alexander on Jan. 8 in Little Rock. Police said Collins was taken into custody Dec. 8 in Chicago on a federal arrest warrant that stemmed from accusations he violated his supervised release. Authorities took Collins to Colorado, where the arrest warrant originated.

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Photos by Ryan Tarinelli and Staton Breidenthal

The Pulaski County prosecuting attorney's office has initiated proceedings to bring Collins back in Arkansas to face prosecution, chief deputy prosecutor John Johnson said Wednesday.

A writ, signed Monday by a Pulaski County circuit judge, requested that a federal prison warden in Colorado release Collins to Pulaski County authorities. A plea and arraignment for Collins is set for March 30.

The document said Collins is a prisoner at a federal prison in Englewood, Colo. It was unclear Wednesday whether Collins has since been moved from the facility. Collins did not appear on the Pulaski County sheriff's office jail roster Wednesday afternoon.

A hearing is scheduled for April 9 in federal court in Colorado regarding Collins' alleged violations of his supervised released, according to online court records.

A Little Rock police spokesman declined to comment on the formal state charges from the prosecuting attorney's office.

The court document outlining the charges states the defendant, or defendants, were "armed with a deadly weapon, to wit: KNIFE, with the purpose of committing a theft, against the peace and dignity of the State of Arkansas." The document did not specify whether it is thought that one or both of the perpetrators were armed with a deadly weapon.

Federal court records show Collins has a history of mental-health issues, including a previous diagnosis for bipolar disorder, and had a federal warrant out for his arrest when the killings in Little Rock took place.

[INTERACTIVE MAP: Search all killings in Little Rock, North Little Rock in 2017]

Collins pleaded guilty in 2014 to a federal firearm charge in Colorado, an offense that stemmed from an October 2013 incident in which Collins fled from Denver police on a bicycle. Collins threw his backpack over a schoolyard fence, and police found a pistol inside with an "obliterated serial number," court records show.

Months into his supervised release, which began in 2017, a probation officer accused Collins of violating the terms and conditions of his release. According to the documents, Collins was accused of missing two therapy appointments, among other violations.

"The defendant has a history of mental health issues, including a prior diagnosis for Bipolar Disorder, and he has expressed resistance to attending treatment to address his mental health issues," according to a petition that outlined the alleged violations.

The petition also accused Collins of violating the supervised release by not telling a probation officer that he was questioned by police from Greenwood Village, a small city outside Denver.

Federal court documents show that Collins was a suspect in an attempted robbery, in which he reportedly pointed a firearm at two people.

On June 22, months before the killings in Little Rock, officers in Greenwood Village responded to a construction site where a victim said Collins went to the job site asking for employment verification, according to court documents filed this year.

During the conversation, the man noticed a firearm in Collins' waistband, the documents said. The man told police that Collins then pulled the firearm and tried to rob him. A struggle began over the firearm, the man said, and another person responded to the commotion.

The man told police that Collins, during the incident, pointed the firearm at his chest and at the head of the other person, who responded to the commotion.

Afterward, a commander with Greenwood Village police contacted Collins by telephone to question him and set up a meeting for further questioning. Collins hung up on the commander about five minutes into the conversation and could not be reached again, according to documents.

The same day of the incident at the construction site, Collins left the probation officer a voice mail that morning. He requested a return call to talk about getting permission to travel to Illinois to attend his father's memorial service, the court documents said.

Later that morning, the probation officer went to Collins' residence. During the visit, the officer found bottles of whiskey and an empty medical marijuana container in his bedroom, but Collins denied that the items belonged to him, according to the documents.

In court records filed days after the reported attempted robbery, the probation officer wrote in a petition that Collins' whereabouts were unknown.

"The defendant presents a significant risk of danger to the community at this time given that he has absconded supervision following contact with the Greenwood Village Police Department," the document said.

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Metro on 03/15/2018

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