Arkansas man forced mom to watch as he sawed off her two children's heads before stabbing her brutally to death during burglary
LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: A mother was held down and forced to watch a home intruder stab her two young children and then decapitate them. The home intruder and his accomplice then killed the mother as well.
The murderer, 26-year-old Michael Ivory Collins, has been convicted of the murders of 24-year-old Mariah Cunningham, her five-year-old daughter A'Laylaih Fisher and her three-year-old son Elijah Fisher.
The family's bodies were discovered on the afternoon of December 5, 2017, at their Little Rock home. Collins' trial started on Tuesday, October 15, in Judge Herb Wright's courtroom.
It was reported that Collins had stabbed A'Layliah around 20 times and then tried to decapitate her. Collins then turned his attention to Elijah whom he stabbed at least 14 times before decapitating him.
The children's mother Cunningham was held down by Collins' accomplice, 23-year-old William Burnell Alexander. Cunningham was forced to watch her children being killed before she was murdered.
Prosecutor Barbara Marinara revealed some of the sickening details during the capital murder trial. She told jurors how it took the two men only 20 minutes to murder the family after Collins and Alexander robbed the family's house.
The jurors at the Pulaski County Court were told how the family had been killed over a TV, Xbox, and Cunningham's Honda. The two men had believed that Cunningham was wealthy but were mistaken.
According to a report by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Collins will face execution during his sentencing if he is convicted of the triple murder. The court was also told how Collins fled to Chicago after the murders.
He was found by federal agents while sleeping on a couch, next to a pair of Adidas shoes which had his victims' blood on it. Collins was taken into custody where he felt very guilty and confessed the crime to a fellow inmate. He also claimed that he was haunted by Cunningham's ghost.
Prosecutor Marinara shared, "Like any good mother, Mariah fought and fought, and then she haunted him in his dreams".