Barway Collins' father had financial, family and fraud problems

Well before he was charged last week in the death of his 10-year-old son, Pierre Collins was in a world of trouble.

The boy, Barway Collins, was one of the 33-year-old Crystal man's seven children. A messy divorce from the mother of four of the kids had brought child support obligations Collins hadn't met. And his work as a personal care attendant had been derailed by allegations of physical and sexual abuse made against him during the custody battle.

When employed, Collins had made $8 to $11 an hour. To make ends meet, he'd relied on several insurance payouts after car accidents. The payments were drying up, and one insurance firm had sued him, alleging fraud.

Collins' struggles were described last week by his ex-wife, Jennifer Beaver, and detailed in court documents.

Prosecutors contend that debt may have been a motive for killing Barway, whose body was found April 11 in the Mississippi River in Brooklyn Center. Two days before Barway disappeared, Collins had inquired about increasing the boy's life insurance, charges say. On March 18, just hours before Barway went missing, a Hennepin County judge had ordered Collins to find a job and to start paying more than $600 a month in child support.

Collins has denied any role in his son's death. "I had nothing to do with Barway missing. … I would never harm him," he said in March.

He is now in jail on a second-degree murder charge. Investigators say cellphone records and surveillance videos place him near the spot where Barway was found.

Scores of people attended a vigil Saturday in front of the apartments where the family lives. Another vigil is planned for 2 p.m. Sunday at the river park where the boy's body was found.

Hennepin County's chief public defender, whose office represents Collins, cautioned against a rush to judgment. "If he has been wrongfully accused, what must it be like to be accused of causing the death of his child?" said Mary Moriarty. "I'm asking people to keep an open mind about this."

Pierre Collins' current wife and the mother of his two youngest children, Yamah, declined to comment, as did Collins' siblings. Interviews with other family members and court documents showed some of his struggles.

He arrived in the United States about 2003, part of a wave of Liberians fleeing civil war. He came to the Twin Cities after time in Virginia. In 2005, he met Beaver, then a mother of two, at a group home where they both worked.

"He was very nice … really outgoing. We had fun together," she said. He was "secretive," she added, never discussing his past.

When Beaver became pregnant with twins, Collins left, telling her he was returning to Africa. She gave birth and set out to raise her children on her own.

In 2008, Collins was found in Brooklyn Center and was ordered to pay child support, Beaver said.

Collins and Beaver reconnected, and she and the children moved into his one-bedroom apartment. "At first, it was wonderful," she said. "He seemed like a good father to my children."

Collins adopted Beaver's two older children, and the couple married on Dec. 17, 2009. They moved into a two-bedroom apartment and then a townhouse. Collins worked long hours to support the family, she said.

Beaver said she knew Collins had a son in Liberia. He told her he'd learned Barway's mother was pregnant after he left Liberia. She said she suggested they bring him to the United States, and helped pay for his trip.

In 2011, 5-year-old Barway arrived in Minnesota. His first day included a visit to a playground and a McDonald's, Beaver said.

He started first grade and "adjusted quite well," she said, describing Barway as well-behaved and fond of biking, skateboarding and soccer.

Beaver's sister, Talisha Whitaker, and her husband, Corry Whitaker, of Coon Rapids, said at first they liked Collins. He worked double shifts to support the family, they said.

"He was a good parent," Talisha said. "He gave [Beaver] the structure she needed."

Said Corry: "He was nice but very secretive."

Court records show that in recent years, Collins collected several car insurance and workers' compensation payouts.

On July 8, 2013, the day Collins and Beaver attended divorce proceedings, he was in another car accident.

He submitted a claim for medical expenses and income loss, alleging he couldn't work because of leg, back and neck injuries, records show. In total, he claimed to not have worked for 18 weeks, though he worked some of that time, court documents say.

The insurer sued him for fraud, alleging he had made suspiciously similar claims in each of the three accidents he'd reported over the years. It also accused him of hiding his 2007 worker's comp claim. The suit ended when both parties went to arbitration. The court file does not say how the case was resolved.

Collins had two life insurance policies pertaining to his son, authorities say. One covered each of his children for $20,000. The other, for $30,000 was on Barway. On March 16, Collins made a payment on the second policy and asked about raising the coverage to $50,000, according to the criminal complaint.

Beaver's marriage to Collins began to unravel.

She said they had physical altercations and that he also hit Barway, including spankings with a belt. He could be rough with all the children but was roughest with Barway, she said.

"He would literally whip him. … We fought so much about it. He told me to stay in my place, [that Barway] wasn't my kid," she said.

"My family told me to hold it together for the kids."

In 2013, one of Beaver's children alleged Collins touched and kissed her in a sexual way, and another said Collins beat him, records say. Beaver applied for and was granted a restraining order. Hennepin County found Collins responsible for abuse, records show. Beaver also reported the abuse to police. The county attorney's office found insufficient evidence for a criminal charge.

The couple filed for divorce in June 2013. The judge appointed a guardian ad litem to represent the best interests of the children, then, citing the guardian's report, granted Beaver sole legal and physical custody of the four children. She said she inquired about getting custody of Barway but was told she had no legal rights to the boy.

The judge also ordered Collins to complete a "sexual boundaries education program" before seeking supervised parenting time and to pay $650 a month in child support for the four children.

Beaver said Collins unsuccessfully objected to paying support for the two children he had adopted.

Last fall, Collins, who by then had two children with Yamah, asked to modify his child support, saying he was unemployed. The court agreed to suspend the payments. When the case returned to court March 18, the judge ordered Collins to resume payments, Beaver said.

"She said, 'There is no reason you can't go out and get a job. You have to pay child support,' " Beaver said.

That afternoon was the last time Barway was seen alive.

Beaver said she recently lost her job and that she and her children are in hiding due to threats. "My kids are hurting. I am hurting," she said.

"My heart sank into my stomach," when Barway's body was found, she said. "I will never understand."

Staff writer Brandon Stahl

contributed to this report.