Ashton Dominick Collins, a 32-year-old African American male, was tragically shot and killed on August 11, 2016, during a robbery at a home in East Austin, Texas. Collins, originally from New Orleans, had a promising start as a track athlete at the University of Texas, where he won three All-American designations and held the school record for the indoor 400-meter dash for 13 years.
However, his life took a darker turn with multiple arrests and convictions for violent crimes.
On the night of his death, Collins was at a home in the 1800 block of Elmira Road, shooting dice with a small group of people. According to a police affidavit, two women left to buy drinks, and when they returned, three men wielding handguns rushed in behind them. Witnesses reported that a struggle ensued, and one of the men, 44-year-old Marvin Henson, shot Collins several times. Henson was subsequently arrested and charged with murder. He was held in the Travis County Jail on a murder charge.
Collins' criminal history included arrests in 2009 and 2010 for armed robbery. In 2009, he and his twin brother Aaron were accused of robbing a group of men at gunpoint after losing a dice game at a South Austin apartment. In 2010, Collins and former UT football player Brandon Collins were accused of robbing someone at gunpoint at a McDonald's in Pflugerville. The charges against both of them were eventually dropped, but not before Brandon Collins was dismissed from the football team.
In a bizarre twist, the charges against Marvin Henson for the murder of Ashton Collins were dropped by a Travis County grand jury in February 2017. A witness came forward and informed the police that Henson had acted in self-defense when Collins tried to rob him. According to the arrest affidavit, Collins and others were gambling at the home when Collins sent two women to a store to get drinks. When they returned, three men entered the home behind them and held the homeowner and others at gunpoint. A struggle ensued between Collins and Henson over a handgun, and Henson gained control of the weapon and fired several shots at Collins.
Despite his troubled past, Collins had aspirations of a career in rap music and was known by his stage name, Twin Out Da Six. He had organized a benefit concert for the victims of the Bastrop County wildfire in 2011 and was signed with a local rap label, Rooftop Productions. Friends described him as someone who wanted to live a normal life and make his music career work, despite the darker side that sometimes surfaced in his rap verses.
