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Hernando Today

911 Tape Sets Stage In Murder Case

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By KYLE MARTIN

Published: May 29, 2008

BROOKSVILLE - "911 what's the address of your emergency?"

"Yeah, I think there's a man dead down here on Buena Vista by the CPA place."

That is the starting line for the investigation into Brooksville's second murder this year. A copy of the original 911 call obtained by Hernando Today sheds new light on what first responders found at 12:20 a.m. Monday.

The caller, who is not identified in the tape, explains that he was driving slowly and saw a red Thunderbird, late model, driving by real fast. Then he heard gunshots.

He circled the block and came across Isiah Collins, 29, lying in the roadway at the intersection of Buena Vista and Roberta avenues. The caller says he is near "Woodlow CPA", presumably Woodruff CPA on the north side of Broad Street.

Collins lies still at first, leading the caller to think he's dead. Then the victim slightly moves.

"Can you actually go up to him and see whether or not he's injured?" the operator asks.

"Oh, God."

"It's OK, you don't have to if you don't want to," she says.

"Hold on…Oh God, there's blood coming out of his head, I don't want to."

The operator does her best to keep the caller on the line and assures him that an ambulance and law enforcement are on the way.

"Yeah, I'm going to stand by, if I don't have a nervous breakdown," the caller says.

"Do you want me to stay on the phone then?"

"Uh, no, I guess I'll be all right."

The call clocks in at just over three minutes and ends with the caller announcing that a deputy has just pulled up. Medics attempted to resuscitate Collins on scene, but he died soon after at Brooksville Regional Hospital.

Brooksville police said Wednesday they had developed a person of interest and that the victim had been shot multiple times. They've yet to say what part of Collins' body was injured.

Chief George Turner said he had no new developments to report on Thursday.

Reporter Kyle Martin can be reached at 352-544-5271 or kmartin@hernandotoday.com.

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