Arkansas seeks death penalty in 2017 triple slaying

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Arkansas prosecutors say they’re seeking the death penalty for one of the men accused in the killing of a 24-year-old mother and her two young children in 2017.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reports that Pulaski County Chief Deputy Prosecutor John Johnson told a judge Tuesday that prosecutors would seek the lethal injection for 26-year-old Michael Collins of Colorado. It’s the first death penalty request the county has pursued in a decade.

Collins and his brother, 22-year-old William Alexander, have been charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in the deaths of Mariah Cunningham, 5-year-old A’Layliah Fisher and 4-year-old Elijah Fisher. The family was found stabbed to death in their Little Rock home in December 2017.

The brothers have also been charged with capital murder and aggravated robbery in a fourth slaying.

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Information from: Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, http://www.arkansasonline.com