Former congressional candidate arrested in Georgia, accused of murdering campaign treasurer

Kellie CollinsKellie Collins was arrested Monday on murder and grand larceny charges. (Photo: Courtesy Aiken County Sheriff’s Office)

A woman who hoped to take on gun laws in Congress is now in jail after being accused of fatally shooting her campaign manager.

Kellie Collins was running for Georgia’s 10th congressional district in the 2018 midterms but dropped out, citing personal reasons. During her candidacy, the Democratic candidate pledged to fight for tighter gun laws to protect the community, according to WSB-TV, a local Atlanta news station.

Collins was arrested Monday on murder and grand larceny charges, according to the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office.

She is accused of shooting and killing Curt Cain, 41, her former campaign treasurer. His body was discovered last week after authorities conducted a well-being check when he didn’t show up for work, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Collins and Cain reportedly were in a relationship and shared the apartment where his body was found.

He died due to blood loss after being shot, the county coroner told the Chronicle. He said when authorities found Cain’s body, his vehicle and Collins were missing.

Collins later surrendered to authorities, the Chronicle reported.

Collins filed for office in January 2017. Filings from the Federal Election Commission list Cain as her campaign treasurer and note she raised more than $5,000 before dropping out of the race. She last filed with the FEC in July 2017.

Collins said in an interview with the blog GirlsReallyRule that her main priorities for running were helping citizens of Georgia acquire health insurance, increasing the minimum wage and improving the quality of education in the state.

In another interview, she also called President Donald Trump an “unqualified demagogue” and said the 2016 election was a wake-up call for her to run.

“I have always tried to help my community through my lifetime, but I had a bit of an epiphany when the 2016 election showed how little the public voice is heard (especially in the US House of Representatives) by our elected government,” she told GirlsReallyRule. “I started feeling as if someone should stand up and speak out against it.”

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SOURCE: USAToday

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