Published: April 30, 2008 10:55 pm      

Attorney urges fugitive murder suspect to surrender

A former attorney for a man now wanted for murder appealed Wednesday for suspect Norris Collins Jr. to turn himself in to Johnstown police.

Ebensburg attorney John Kasaback said he had been in phone contact with the 19-year-old Collins on Monday, a day after the fatal shooting of a city man at the Solomon Homes housing project.

“Obviously, I’m encouraging him to surrender. It’s a safety issue. I don’t want him getting hurt in a forced arrest, or anybody else getting hurt,” he said.

Collins remained at large late Wednesday. He is wanted on first-degree murder and related charges in the slaying of 27-year-old Cortez Jordan shortly after 2 a.m. Sunday.

Kasaback said he had talked with Collins “a couple of times on Monday. I don’t know if there have been communications problems since then or what.”

City police continue to follow leads as they look for Collins, Capt. Andrew Frear said.

“It’s hard to say for sure whether he’s still in the area,” Frear said.

“We’ve had some leads he’s in town, and some that he’s out of town. We’re getting help from other agencies. Everybody is cooperating in trying to locate him.”

The Cambria County Drug Task Force, FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service are assisting.

Collins is accused of shooting Jordan after an argument outside the housing project. Jordan reportedly had been called there by a relative who had complained to partygoers about loud noises there. Collins had been at the party, police said.

Kasaback represented Collins when the teen was certified to stand trial as an adult in two 2006 drug cases. Collins entered guilty pleas in June 2007 but fled before sentencing.

Eventually, he was sentenced to 11 to 23 months in the county jail on a guilty plea to selling crack cocaine. He received an additional five years’ probation on pleas to fleeing from police and heroin possession.

After Collins was paroled, Judge Gerard Long found he had violated the terms of his release and ordered April 9 that Collins be placed on electronic monitoring. The monitoring apparently had not begun when the fatal shooting took place.

A funeral service for Jordan will be held at 11 a.m. today at Works of Deliverance Fellowship Church, 550 Park Ave.