Grand Jury Meets To Consider Homicide Indictment

A grand jury convened Wednesday to consider the indictment of a homicide suspect.

Assistant State Attorney Pete Magrino confirmed the hearing's nature, but would not name the person or the outcome of the hearing until the person was served with the papers.

He said the person was not in Hernando County for the proceeding.

The only solved homicide in Hernando County without an indictment is the murder of Isiah Collins on Memorial Day 2008. Police named Franklin Jamaal Spears as their suspect five months later; Spears is currently at Federal Correctional Institution Coleman, near Ocala, records show.

Sources close to the proceedings confirmed the indictment was Spears.

Collins, 29, was found gunned down shortly after midnight May 23 at the intersection of Buena Vista and Roberta avenues. A passerby driving on Broad Street heard the shots and called authorities after seeing a suspicious car speed away from the scene.

The caller found Collins lying still in the T-shaped intersection and bleeding from the head. Collins died minutes later at Brooksville Regional Hospital after a failed attempt at resuscitation.

Investigators are still establishing a motive for the alleged murder, but they say the shooting could be drug-related.

Speaking generally, Magrino said an ongoing investigation could delay a grand jury for months after a suspect is identified. Contrary to television crime shows, processing evidence in laboratories doesn't happen within an hour, he said.