Playstation Sale Murder Case Will Hinge on Intent to Rob

SAN FRANCISCO, CA- A fatal shooting in San Francisco's Hunters Point neighborhood during the sale of a PlayStation 4 game console was either the result of a planned armed robbery attempt or of a terrible misunderstanding between two suspicious and wary men, depending who you believe.

Prosecutors and defense attorneys today delivered closing arguments in the trial of Ronnie Collins, 24, who is charged with murder, attempted robbery and resisting arrest in the Dec. 1, 2013 death of 22-year-old Ikenna Uwakah. Collins is alleged to have shot Uwakah near the Youngblood-Coleman Playground at Mendell Street and Galvez Avenue around 3:30 p.m. as Uwakah sat in his car with his girlfriend, Rachael Pecota. They met after Collins arranged over the social media app Instagram to buy a PS4 from Pecota. Prosecutors have charged Collins with first-degree murder because they allege the shooting occurred during an attempted robbery.

Collins has acknowledged shooting Uwakah, but says he did so out of fear because he thought the other man had a gun and was acting suspiciously. There was no robbery attempt, just an attempt to buy a PlayStation and a series of miscommunications, according to defense attorneys. Deputy District Attorney Diane Knoles today argued that Collins carried a loaded gun and "lured" Uwakah and Pecota to a "deserted" park because he intended to take the game console by force. She described him as lying in wait until Uwakah and Pecota had pulled over to the side of the road and then pulling out his gun.

"He took that gun with him because he was going to use it to intimidate and to rob," Knoles said today. Prosecutors have said Uwakah offered to give Collins the PS4, but instead Collins allegedly said "Nah" and shot him. Knoles told jurors today that Collins lied repeatedly before the shooting, to Pecota and Uwakah, and afterward in interviews with police. She said he hid evidence, including the murder weapon, lied about having money to buy the PlayStation and did not claim self-defense until the trial, several years later. "If you have a valid self-defense claim, I don't care if you don't trust the police, you're going to tell them," Knoles said today.

Deputy Public Defender Mark Jacobs said Collins began carrying a gun for self-protection regularly after several friends and family members were shot and he himself was shot at. He held a job as a security guard and was working to save money, storing his cash in a shoebox at a cousin's house to keep it out of the hands of a family member with substance abuse issues, Jacobs said. Collins, who had purchased one PlayStation the previous day that did not work, traded a series of text messages and phone calls with the victims over the course of two days.

The victims delayed numerous times and showed up at the wrong location, but when Collins tried to cancel the sale altogether, they insisted on meeting and persuaded him to return, Jacobs said. "The lying in wait theory is a farce, there's no evidence to support it," Jacobs said.

By the time they met, Jacobs said there was a "cloud of miscommunication" over the transaction and Collins was nervous, worried about being robbed and convinced Uwakah was carrying a gun. When Uwakah refused to get out of the car to show Collins the PlayStation and began checking the rear view mirror, Collins became fearful and pulled out his gun, demanding "show me your hands," Jacobs said. Uwakah then reached for the gun, trying to push it aside and in the brief struggle that followed, Collins fired three times, hitting Uwakah twice. He then fled the scene in a panic, leaving the PlayStation behind.

"Ronnie feared for his life, he wasn't trying to rob him," Uwakah said. Uwakah, a student at Santa Monica College who was home visiting family for the long weekend, died later that day. Collins was identified as a suspect through the messages exchanged with Pecota and Uwakah, which used his real name and contact information. Collins has remained in custody since his arrest, with bail set at $5.19 million.

By Bay City News

Photo via Shutterstock