State Supreme Court rejects Mia Collins appeal in fatal 2019 crash

TOPEKA, Kan. (KSNW) — The Kansas Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by the woman convicted in a 2019 crash that killed two people and critically injured a Wichita musician.

In April 2022, Mia Collins was sentenced to 25 years plus 38 months for causing the deaths of 70-year-old Maria Wood and Wood’s 12-year-old granddaughter, Rosemary McElroy. Collins was fleeing from police when she crashed into another car in downtown Wichita on May 5, 2019.

The crash also injured Wood’s daughter and musician, Jenny Wood, and a 65-year-old man. Woods later sued the city of Wichita, and the two sides settled out of court.

Collins initially pled guilty to two counts of felony murder, one count of fleeing or attempting to elude an officer, and three counts of aggravated battery but then attempted to withdraw that plea. However, the Sedgwick County judge presiding over the case rejected the motion.

She appealed her conviction to the Kansas Supreme Court. Writing for the majority, Justice Caleb Stegall wrote that even though the state did not provide details about the settlement agreement the city of Wichita reached with Woods, it did not constitute good cause for her to withdraw her plea.

In a second case brought by Collins, the court dismissed her motion for jailtime credit because it had already been awarded to her while her appeal was pending.

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