WATERTOWN, S.D.(KXLG)- A New Effington woman has been sentenced to 15 years in the South Dakota State Penitentiary following an incident in which she shot her supervisor at the Avantara Care Center in Milbank last January.
Judge Dawn Elshere sentenced Carrie Anne Collins to 15 years in prison with 2 years suspended, and credit for the 267 days she spent in confinement, after Collins agreed to plead guilty but mentally ill to a charge of aggravated assault-bodily injury with a dangerous weapon.
On January 15, after receiving negative feedback during a training session at Avantara, where she was employed, Collins left the building, went to her vehicle and retrieved her 9mm pistol. She then re-entered the nursing facility and upon seeing the trainer that offered the feedback, pulled out her firearm and fired one round from the handgun. The bullet struck the trainer in the face, passing through the bridge of her nose and damaging her cheek.
Collins then exited Avantara but was stopped by law enforcement minutes later, just blocks from the facility.
According to Grant County State’s Attorney Jackson Schwandt, Collins initially pled not guilty to the charge of Attempted First Degree Murder and Aggravated Assault for the dispute, but in June was found mentally incompetent to stand trial. After an evaluation at the Human Services Center in Yankton, it was determined that Collins does have schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type, versus schizophrenia, among other mental disorders. Schwandt says Collins was restored to competency at the Human Services Center, and was found competent to stand trial while on medication.
In September, Collins agreed to change her plea to guilty but mentally ill on the aggravated assault charge. In return, the attempted first degree murder charge was dropped.
Besides her penitentiary sentence, Collins was ordered to pay court costs and reimburse the county for her court-appointed attorney fees. It was also ordered that she have no contact with the victim of the crime or with any Avantara residents or staff