MILWAUKEE (Court TV) — A man was sentenced to nearly 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to multiple charges linked to the death of his nephew, who died while playing with a gun.
Quintell Collins walks into court on May 22, 2026. (Court TV)
Quintell Collins, 22, pleaded guilty to neglect of a child where the consequence is death, possession of a firearm by someone convicted of a felony and recklessly endangering safety after his nephew, Da’quel Collins, was killed just three days before his 7th birthday.
Collins was on probation for an earlier fleeing offense on April 1, 2024, when he recorded a video of himself playing with guns and posted it on Instagram. As a felon, it was illegal for Collins to have possession of the weapons; prosecutors said he had his sister buy him guns, which the two would then sell illegally in the community. After recording the video while holding two guns with extended magazines, Collins put down the weapons.
“The term accident is used all too frequently with these types of cases,” Prosecutor Matthew Torbenson said at Friday’s sentencing hearing. “This is no accident. This is completely and wholly preventable.”
Da’quel got hold of a gun and shot himself in the head. In the immediate aftermath, Collins left his nephew alone and bleeding and fled from the property into an alley where he hid the gun under a garbage can. “This is Da’quel’s greatest moment of need. His life is literally escaping his body, and this defendant is running and hiding evidence, thinking of himself rather than his nephew,” Torbenson said.
Police immediately began searching for Collins, but it took them several days to catch up with him. When they found him, he was driving a vehicle. Rather than stop, he led officers on a high-speed chase, reaching speeds over 80 mph, driving up on sidewalks, on grass and into incoming traffic. “And then, as the fleeing is ending, a crowd is gathering on the corner watching what’s happening,” Torbenson said. “Mr. Collins can be seen on the body cam throwing money out the window at the crowd. Responsible for the death of his 6-year-old nephew, he is celebrating fleeing from the police just days later.”
It was that behavior that Judge Michelle Havas found most disturbing. “You’re throwing money out like, ‘Look at me, I’m the King!’ Not so much, because you’re wearing someone else’s clothes right now. An ugly orange outfit, and you’re going to trade that when you get back to prison for whatever they make you wear. You’re not the King.”
After his arrest, prosecutors say Collins was laughing about what happened from jail. “When he’s calling friends, he’s bragging about that high-speed chase with the police and hoping that there’s video that exists of it,” Torbenson said. “As if that’s something also to be celebrated in this community.”
“He made a lot of bad, immature decisions that he’s going to have to live with,” Collins’ attorney, Patrick Flanagan, said Friday. “There’s no excuse, there’s no explanation, there’s no real anything you can say other than, ‘I’m sorry,’ and that’s all he can say, because it was, as they say, a series of very bad decisions.”
Collins offered an apology in a brief statement, both to the court and to Da’quel’s mother. “To my big sister, Daquila Collins, I owe the most biggest and most dearest apology for my behavior and actions,” he said. “What took place that night was a mistake, Your Honor. I was under the influence and misguided. I want you to know that I have changed for the better and will learn from my mistakes after this sentence is over.”
As Havas began to hand down her sentence, she read the standard warnings to the defendant which informed him he had no right to possess weapons. “I know you were given these warnings in the past and you didn’t follow them, and they have led you here,” she said. “I hope you take them to heart now.”
Probation was not a consideration for Havas, who noted, “I can’t think of anything more inappropriate than more probation when you were on probation when you engaged in this horrible string of behavior.” To that end, she sentenced Collins to concurrent sentences for the charges of neglecting a child and firearm possession, but ordered his sentence for recklessly endangering safety to run consecutive to them. Fleeing and eluding days after the shooting “was a completely and utterly separate decision,” she said. “It’s something you were on supervision for at the time you did it. And, it appears, hoping there would be the video of it showing you in such a cool light, I think it necessary to punish you.”
Collins will be serving the remaining sentence for his initial fleeing charge until March 2027; at that point, he will begin serving the 17-year sentence Havas handed down Friday, to be followed by 14 years of extended supervision.
Collins’ sister, and Da’quel’s mother, Daquela Collins, is facing charges of neglecting a child and straw purchasing of a firearm. Her trial is scheduled to begin on Tuesday.
