Stephen Edward Collins, 81, a United States Air Force veteran and owner of Collins Tree Service, was found unresponsive at his home on Edgehill Road in Sumter, South Carolina, on the morning of July 8, 2022. Employees who expected to meet with him became concerned when he did not show up; one went to his house and discovered him. Authorities determined his death was a homicide and an autopsy confirmed he had been shot multiple times.

Investigators say two people forced entry to Collins’ home sometime between the evening of July 7 and the morning of July 8, 2022, with the intent to steal, and that Collins was fatally shot while sitting on his couch. In July 2024, 20-year-old Elijah Keith Fleming of Hapeville, Georgia, was charged with murder and first-degree burglary; he was in custody in Georgia on unrelated charges and extradition to South Carolina was pending. In February 2025, 20-year-old Mala’Kiy Raphel Brooks of Lexington, South Carolina, was arrested and charged with murder and first-degree burglary and is being held without bond at the Sumter County Sheriff’s Office Detention Center.

Did anyone in Sumter know Collins well enough to help investigators with his final movements or contacts in the days before July 8, 2022?