Jury clears shooter in death of ex-UT track star
A man who witnesses say killed a former University of Texas track standout at a dice game last summer in East Austin has been cleared of all charges.
Last week, a Travis County grand jury dropped murder charges against Marvin Henson, 44, in the Aug. 11 shooting of Ashton Collins, a three-time All-American sprinter for the Longhorns.
Grand jury proceedings are closed to the public, and court documents do
not give a reason for the dismissed charges. Henson had been out of jail after posting $30,000 bail.
Henson’s attorney, Mark Sampson, told the American-Statesman a witness came forward after the arrest and informed police his client acted in self-defense when Collins tried to rob him. According to the arrest affidavit, Collins and
others were gambling at a home in the 1800 block of Elmira Road when Collins sent two women to a store to get drinks.
When they returne d, three men entered the home behind them and held the homeowner and others at gunpoint. The document says one of the women told police Collins and Henson struggled over a handgun in a back room where the gambling was taking place. Henson got control of the weapon and fired several shots at Collins, according to the document.
Collins, who was 32, expe- rienced highs and lows in Austin. He came to UT from New Orleans and set the
school record in the indoor 400-meter dash in 2003. His time of 46.22, set at the NCAA meet, stood for 13 years before it was topped in 2016.
Collins began getting into legal trouble after his athletic career ended. In 2009, police say he and his twin brother, Aaron, who was also on the track team, robbed a group of men after losing a dice game at an apartment in South Austin. Ashton Collins was sentenced to 10 years of probation.
In 2010, Collins and former UT football player Brandon Collins — no relation — were accused of robbing someone at gunpoint at a McDonald’s in Pflugerville. Charges against both of them were dropped.
Last April, Collins, an aspiring rapper, posted a music video on YouTube in which he is shown breaking into a home and robbing a man. He was shot and killed four months later.
Collins got into trouble after his career ended.