A man’s racial slur and aggressive actions prompted a single deadly punch, which many consider self-defense. But Anthony Collins pleaded guilty to manslaughter in June and will now spend three years behind bars in a New Jersey state prison. He is required to serve almost 31 months of the sentence before he is eligible for parole under the terms of the No Early Release Act.
The fatal confrontation took place on the afternoon of September 18, 2023 in Seaside Heights, a tiny 16-by-4-block beach community on the Jersey Shore.
Collins, 41, and his wife were leaving Babe’s Corner Store on Sumner Avenue when Robert May, 70, approached them on his bicycle. May, who also went by “Frog,” had repeatedly harassed Collins and his children, addressing them with racial slurs for months, said defense attorney Terrence Turnback.
On that afternoon, May rode directly into Collin’s wife after they exited the store, assaulting her with his bike, Collins told Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan during his plea.
May then turned to Collins and called him n*****, which drew a single punch to his face that brought him immediately to the ground. May’s fall and the punch knocked him unconscious, and he was later found by first responders lying on the cement, with blood coming from his mouth and head.
After May eventually came to, he was treated at the scene but refused additional medical assistance and went home, per a press release issued by the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office.
The police then received a tip that he was “acting erratically” after the fall, and he was transported to the hospital and eventually succumbed to his injuries on October 1. An autopsy determined the cause of death to be blunt-force trauma, and the manner of death was homicide.
Witnessed identified Collins to the police, and an arrest warrant was issued on October 4. Collin’s name was added to the powerful National Crime Information Center (NCIC) database, reaching over 90,000 criminal justice and law enforcement agencies nationwide.
The U.S. Marshals Service had also been pulled into the investigation, local news outlet Asbury Park Press reported. Within less than two weeks, Collins surrendered himself to police, and he was held in county jail until entering into the plea agreement in June 2024.
During Collins’ detention hearing in October, Turnbach argued that the aggressive racism he encountered justified self-defense. “[He was] dealing with an individual he was well aware of from the standpoint that he had called his children “n***** kid” over eleven to twelve occasions,” he said, adding, “Their alleged victim was looking for my client, assaulted his wife, and called him a name that’s reprehensible.”
Judge Ryan acknowledged the racism but pointed out the age difference between the two men and said the correct action would have been to report the incident to the police.
In a statement on June 11, prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said the plea deal was “a recommended sentence that is below the normal sentencing range for manslaughter.
The victim’s family recognizes and understands those issues and is in support of this resolution. I commend them for their compassionate and forgiving nature.”
Collins, who has already spent eight months in county jail, seemingly wants to get this over with as soon as possible so he can return to his everyday life. At the time of his plea, Turbnack said in a statement, “Mr. Collins has accepted responsibility for his conduct on September 18, 2023. He is eager to complete his period of incarceration and return to his children, his fiancée, and his work.”
