Police: Son quoted Bible after North Las Vegas pastor’s stabbing
When police officers asked Ezekiel Dwayne Collins what happened that night in February in the front yard of his family’s North Las Vegas home, he responded, “Proverbs 22:8.”
Minutes earlier, according to his arrest report, the North Las Vegas Police Department had received a 911 call from a crying woman who screamed that her son had just stabbed her husband with a knife on the 300 block of Kings Avenue, near North Commerce Street and West Carey Avenue.
When police arrived about 10:05 p.m. Feb. 12, they found Dwayne Collins, a local pastor, in a fetal position in the front yard of the home, police said. He had been stabbed in the chest and head, and was taken to University Medical Center in critical condition.
He died a week later at the hospital from complications of the stab wounds, according to the Clark County coroner’s office, becoming the fifth homicide victim of the year in North Las Vegas. He was 54.
City police did not publicly announce the slaying at the time, an omission they attributed to their public information officer being out sick.
Ezekiel Collins fled after the stabbing, police said, but was taken into custody down the street — his eyes wide open, fists clenched and a “crazed look” on his face, according to the report.
As police handcuffed him, the report states, Ezekiel Collins said, “I am guilty, I did it.”
As of Thursday, he remained held without bail at the Clark County Detention Center on one count of murder with a deadly weapon, jail records show.
Ezekiel Collins then began reciting Bible verses, citing Proverbs 22:8 and “stating he was a prophet.”
The King James Bible version of Proverbs 22:8 states that “he that soweth iniquity shall reap vanity: and the rod of his anger shall fail.”
Modern renderings of the proverb give this translation: “Those who sow injustice will harvest evil, and the rod of their fury will come to an end.”
“Sinful world,” Ezekiel Collins told police that night. “It had to happen.”
The report did not elaborate on his statements to police.
His father was the owner and pastor of Justice International Church of Deliverance Ministries, 1532 H St., near downtown Las Vegas, according to his Facebook profile and business records.
Family members could not immediately be reached for comment on Thursday.
Ezekiel Collins was formally charged Feb. 27 and is due back in court June 28 for a status hearing, court records show.
Contact Rio Lacanlale at rlacanlale@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0381. Follow @riolacanlale on Twitter.