Sheriff conveys frantic moments before shooting
|
She rejected each plea and finally Emmons said she pointed the gun to the child’s head and braced herself as if she was waiting to hear a shot. It was then Collins drew his weapon and shot her in the right forehead.
The incident began early Friday morning when Lovell escaped from DeKalb County Jail. Lovell used a correctional officer’s gun and a patrol car in order to escape.
Lovell then went to the home of her sister, Cathy Lester, who had custody of her 3-year-old son. Lovell took her son at gunpoint and eluded authorities for close to 10 hours before she was finally cornered by officers.
After refusing to put down the gun and threatening to kill the child, Lovell was shot by Collins. The following is an account of the conversation between Collins and Lovell prior to the shooting. It was provided Monday by Emmons.
“He (Collins) starts talking to her. He said ‘Ma’am, put the baby down.’ She said ‘No I’m not putting the baby down. I’m going to kill him.’
“He said ‘Ma’am, don’t kill that child, just put the baby down. If you want to shoot somebody, shoot me.’
“She said ‘no, I’ve [messed] my life up.’ He said ‘No, it’s not that bad’ and she replied, ‘I’ve already shot at a deputy and I’ve wrecked a patrol car.’
“He said, ‘that’s only metal. That can be fixed, just put the child down.”
Emmons said the whole time this conversation was taking place Lovell was walking around and making her way to a porch. She opened the storm door, pulled on the wood door and realized it was locked.
Emmons said Collins told him at that point, “You could see it surprised her. The expression was on her face of, ‘Oh no! Now I’m caught up here on the porch and he’s not going to let me off.'”
Emmons was still trying to inch closer to the woman when the two made eye contact. To the right of Emmons was an old car he was trying to reach for cover. “That’s when she pinned me and at that distance there’s no way I could return fire without worrying about the kid or shooting into the house.”
At that point Emmons backed off while Collins, who had yet to pull his weapon, continued to plea with Lovell.
“On the porch she tells Collins ‘I’m not putting the baby down. You’re going to work a murder/suicide’ meaning she was going to kill this child and kill herself,” said Emmons.
“The whole time Collins did not have his weapon drawn and was using his hands showing her he didn’t have a gun,” Emmons continued. “She pointed the gun at him at least twice.”
The sheriff said in the final moment Lovell told Collins “I’m going to kill him” and put the gun to the child’s head, her finger on the trigger. She grits her teeth and she closes her eyes. She’s bracing. Collins said she was bracing like she was waiting to hear the shot. He drew his gun and shot her.
“He had a clear shot and he took it,” Emmons said. “He knew exactly where he was going to shoot her. He made a split-second decision. He saw he had clear aim and he took it.”