Jury Finds Man Sane When He Stabbed, Killed Shannon Collins In Santa Cruz

A Santa Cruz County Superior Court jury on Wednesday found that a man was sane when he fatally stabbed a Santa Cruz businesswoman in 2012 in what police described as a “senseless” attack.

The same jury on Feb. 4 found the defendant, 45-year-old Charles Anthony Edwards III, of San Francisco, guilty of first-degree murder in the attack on 38-year-old Shannon Collins, Assistant District Attorney Celia Rowland said.

The verdict in the sanity phase of the case means that Edwards will serve a life sentence in state prison instead of a mental hospital, Rowland said.

Collins, a resident of the unincorporated area of Live Oak, was the well-respected co-owner of Camouflage lingerie and adult store at 1329 Pacific Ave. in Santa Cruz, according to police.

On May 7, 2012, she was walking in the 300 block of Broadway several blocks northeast of her business on her way to a haircut appointment when she was attacked and stabbed multiple times at 11:52 a.m., police said.

Witnesses to the stabbing tried to render medical aid to Collins and helped police track the suspect, Rowland said.

Minutes later, officers located Edwards about two blocks to the south near the intersection of Barson and Campbell streets after he had discarded a knife and bloody clothing in an attempt to hide the evidence and disguise his appearance, Rowland said.

A day later, Santa Cruz police issued a statement describing the fatal assault on Collins as “senseless, unprovoked, and random.”

According to police, Edwards had a long and violent criminal history while living in San Francisco and had only been in Santa Cruz for about a week prior to Collins’ murder.

After her death, members of the community organized a walk, known as “I am Shannon,” tracing the route she would have taken to get back to her store on Pacific the day she was killed.

The sanity phase of Edward’s trial started on Feb. 9 and the jury deliberated for four days afterwards before finding on Wednesday that he was sane and had planned to deliberately kill Collins, Rowland said. Judge Timothy Volkmann is set to sentence Edwards at a hearing on March 25.

Previous coverage:

• Man Convicted For Fatally Stabbing Shannon Collins in Santa Cruz
• Will the Shannon Collins Murder Bring a New Era of Crime Prevention or Spark Intolerance and Loss of Freedom?
• Mental Patient Charged With Stabbing Shannon Collins to Death Had Blood on Shoes and Head

--Bay City News

--Patch file photos

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