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Anthony Collins, 41, was sentenced on Thursday, Aug. 8 to three years in state prison, Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer said in a news release. Collins previously pleaded guilty to manslaughter after he was charged in the death of 70-year-old Robert May of Seaside Heights.
Seaside Heights police responded to a report of a bike rider who fell near the intersection of Central and Sumner avenues at around 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 18, 2023. Officers found May lying on the ground and bleeding from his head.
May was treated at the scene and returned home after refusing more medical help. Investigators learned May was assaulted by Collins, causing May to fall off his bike and hit his head on the pavement.
About an hour later, police were told May was "acting erratically" after his fall. Tri-Boro paramedics brought him from his home to Community Medical Center in Toms River.
May "continued to deteriorate" and he was transferred to Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital New Brunswick. He was pronounced dead on Sunday, Oct. 1.
An autopsy ruled May's death was a homicide caused by blunt force injury from the assault and fall from his bike. An arrest warrant was issued for Collins on Wednesday, Oct. 4 and his name was put in the National Crime Information Center database.
Collins has been held in the Ocean County Jail since turning himself in at Seaside Heights police headquarters on Sunday, Oct. 15.
"Certain proof problems in this case resulted in the state entering into a plea agreement with a recommended sentence that is below the normal sentencing range for manslaughter," Billhimer said in a statement. "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 will have to serve more than two-and-a-half years in prison before he's eligible for parole under the No Early Release Act.
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