Killeen man charged with murder

BELTON — A Killeen man was charged with a brutal 2014 murder that remained unsolved for almost a year.

Court records obtained by the Herald on Friday stated the Bell County District Attorney’s office charged Carlos Derell Collins Jr., 28, with capital murder in the bludgeoning death of 32-year-old Sean William Schuman.

Schuman was found dead in his north Killeen apartment Jan. 15, 2014. According to the results of an autopsy performed at the Southwestern Institute of Forensic Sciences in Dallas, Schuman died from “homicidal violence and blunt-force injuries to the head.”

Collins was initially sought by police for questioning in the deaths, but never was arrested or charged.

While police continued to investigate Schuman’s death, Collins was arrested days later after an attack that had eerie similarities to Schuman’s death.

That attack occurred Jan. 14, 2014, when Collins reportedly attacked and robbed a man he met on Craigslist.

According to an arrest affidavit, Collins struck his victim with an unknown object before fleeing the apartment.

Police said they found a hammer at the scene.

Collins was arrested Jan. 19, 2014, and charged in the robbery, and has been in custody in Bell County Jail ever since. In the more than one year he sat behind bars, Schuman’s death remained unsolved, as police continued to investigate.

Court records show the Bell County district attorney’s office indicted Collins in Schuman’s death in November.

Jail records show Collins is facing a host of criminal charges on various causes, including aggravated robbery in the Jan. 14, 2014, incident, as well as assault with a deadly weapon and sexual abuse of a child.

His total bail is set at $1.7 million.

If convicted of murder in Schuman’s death, Collins could receive the death penalty.