Hope Collins - Sterling

Hope Collins  in documentary

Collins admittedly had a hard time juggling motherhood and a single life.
Her husband, Robert Collins had moved to Texas months earlier. With her husband gone, Hope became the sole provider, relying on state aid to make ends meet.

Cynthia seemed at ease with life with her mother. Her mother encouraged her to draw and read. Hope took her on walks, read Winnie the Pooh books to her, and toted her to story hour at the Columbus Grove library where "Scootie" got suckers and candy.

Cynthia, a beautiful child with deep-set eyes and white barrettes in her shoulder-length blond hair, worked hard to print her name. She helped mom with housework.
The two stayed together during the day, with an occasional trip into town, Hope pulling Cynthia in a little wagon before the child took her afternoon nap.

However, her parenting was inconsistent, according to a Putnam county Human Services investigation. Investigators visited the apartment several times to check out allegations of abuse. A neighbor described Hope Collins as "wild". She smoked pot and frequently left Cynthia with cousins, a sister-in-law and neighbors when she wanted a night to herself.

By 1986, Collins had a new boyfriend. The relationship soured and by March, he had moved out. Shortly thereafter, she admitted herself to the psychiatric ward at St Rita's Medical Center, where she stayed five days. Collins said she was "really depressed. I was on edge. I checked myself in. The doctor found nothing wrong with me"

Meanwhile, Cynthia stayed with Collins' sister-in-law.

The incidents didn't stop upon her release, however. During another investigation in March 1986, Cynthia ran around the apartment carrying a knife.
?Mommy hit me,? Cynthia told the investigator. When asked why. The child said, ?because I hit her.?

Other nights, Collins hosted parties at her apartment during which several people smoked pot. Another time, a friend watched her take a mirror from her purse and noticed "white chunks" in the grooves around the mirror. She then dug her finger into the white substance, licked her finger and said, ?This is just what I need.?

When Collins put the mirror down, Cynthia walked over and licked the mirror, ?just like her mother did? the friend later told a Putnam County Sheriff's deputy.

And on April 18 1986, a neighbor reported that Collins had, on several occasions, drugged Cynthia with half a capsule of Adapin, a prescription anti-depressant to make her sleep all day. Hope denied giving her any pills (she however admitted it in court when questioned by defense). ?She acts as though she does not want Cynthia,? the neighbor reported. ?She may love the child, but does things that should not be done.?

Maybe it was a mother's love that made Hope Collins look over her left shoulder to the apartment complex before driving away in the hot rod. Kenny Richey was headed toward the second floor apartment, she thought, ready to start babysitting.

Collins was headed to Ottawa to light fireworks- unaware of the fireworks that where to explode at home.

Reported by Robert Snell.

Note: Lima News is the local newspaper, they have shown themselves to be generally negative to Kenny - the above article is unedited and reflects their views on Hope.

The result of Hope's trial?

Hope pleaded guilty to the AMENDED Charge of Involuntary Manslaughter.
The orginal charge was a 1st Degree felony!!

Since Hope pleaded guilty, she was released that very day on her own recognizance. She spent a total of 45 days in jail.

That was pre-trial time, not after the trial. She was given a probation officer and got on with her life.

Hope went on to marry Thomas Sterling (June 15, 1987), she has since given birth to two more children.

She graduated from OSU - Lima in June 1995 with an Associates Degree in Arts and Sciences. She earned her bachelor's degree in Psychology the next year.

In February 1997, she started working as a Case Manager at the WORTH center. She works with low-risk female inmates helping them adapt to their time behind bars!!!

The last the Campaign knew, she was studying for her Master's Degree in rehabilitation counseling at Bowling Green State University.

Hope who left her child home alone got a second chance. Kenny, whose only fault was being available to pin the fire on didn't.

Noone here claims Hope was, or is, a bad person ? or even that she really can be said to have been a bad mother. She was very young, unprepared for responsibility and settled with a young kid. She seems to have loved Cynthia a lot, and the sorrow of her loss is something we neither doubt or disregard. Losing her kid must have been the worst of nightmares.

That doesn't mean we can disregard facts.

Kenny paid for Hope's freedom. Hope pointed at him as being the baby-sitter which at best was ambigous. Kenny says he promised no such thing and that to claim that he said he would is just not true.

Perhaps that is why she has never, bar one time, spoken to the media. She knows that her claim is instrumental in Kenny's verdict, and the doubts and half-truths must eat at her.