The Mesa mother’s death left two children behind while police built a case from physical evidence, witnesses and surveillance footage.
MESA, Ariz. — Cierra Tellez was a 36-year-old mother whose two children, ages 12 and 15, are now growing up without her, according to relatives who spoke publicly after her death. Their loss sits behind a criminal case in which Tellez’s boyfriend, Kyle Collins, 37, is accused of first-degree murder and kidnapping inside the apartment the couple shared.
Family members described the consequences in personal terms, saying Tellez’s mother had lost her only child, her father had lost his youngest daughter and her children had lost their mother. They also used their statement to warn about abusive relationships. The family’s response came after prosecutors said during Collins’ initial appearance that he had a history involving domestic violence. The public reporting reviewed does not provide a full, verified account of every prior case or disposition, and those references do not establish that Collins committed the crimes now charged.
The present case must instead turn on what prosecutors can prove about July 21. Mesa police say Collins was the person who first summoned authorities, calling 911 shortly after 11 a.m. and reporting that he had returned home to find Tellez unresponsive. He told dispatchers he was preparing to perform CPR. Officers and fire personnel arrived at the downtown apartment near First and Hibbert streets and found Tellez dead. Significant injuries prompted patrol officers to call in homicide detectives.
Investigators then began building a probable cause case from several kinds of evidence. Police said they considered the scene inside the apartment, preliminary observations from the Maricopa County Office of the Medical Examiner, witness interviews and later surveillance footage. Court-record reporting says blood was found in three rooms. Investigators also recovered a broken metallic cane shaft containing blood and hair and believed it had been used as a weapon. The reviewed sources did not include a complete final medical examiner report publicly resolving all forensic findings.
The inquiry quickly moved beyond what officers found inside. Detectives asked where Collins had been before the 911 call. He allegedly said he left the apartment around 9 a.m. for work, with Tellez alive and uninjured, and came home about two hours later after leaving his job around 10:30. According to police, he said he drove Tellez’s Kia Optima and found the front door unlocked upon his return. If accurate, the account would have placed him away from the apartment during an important stretch of the morning.
His employer contradicted that story, investigators said. Collins did not report for work that day. Police say his mother had called the job and said he would be taking a sick day. The employer was told Collins had learned that his girlfriend had cheated on him and needed time to clear his head. Collins later made similar allegations to detectives and neighbors, according to the probable cause account. No independent evidence reviewed for this article establishes that Tellez was unfaithful, making it necessary to attribute the claim to Collins rather than present it as fact.
Surveillance video supplied another contradiction. Police said cameras at a neighboring apartment recorded Collins going in and out of his residence during the period he claimed to be working. At approximately 8:15 a.m., the footage allegedly showed him outside wearing camouflage shorts without a shirt and wiping his hands, arms and chest with a towel or rag. Detectives also reviewed footage from the previous evening, when Tellez and Collins returned home from a gathering in the apartment courtyard. According to police, Tellez was not recorded leaving the residence after that.
The evening gathering has become an important boundary in the timeline because neighbors remembered Tellez as appearing normal beforehand. Witnesses told investigators they had been playing board games with the couple, and one neighbor identified Monopoly as the game. That neighbor later said everything had seemed fine. The probable cause affidavit says witnesses could not recall visible injuries or bruises on Tellez during the gathering. Their observations do not prove when every injury occurred, but investigators used them in reconstructing the hours before her death.
By the next morning, Collins’ demeanor appeared markedly different to a neighbor. The neighbor said Collins came to the door upset and spoke about a fight with Tellez before calling his mother. Police say Collins also expressed anger over his allegation that Tellez had cheated. During a later interview, Collins told detectives the couple had argued. He allegedly claimed at first that the confrontation involved words and that he went out the door, but his response changed when investigators asked directly about physical contact.
The affidavit says Collins told detectives that saying he had never put his hands on Tellez would be a lie. He followed with statements that he had messed up and that what happened was his fault, according to police. Detectives asked him to explain further, and Collins requested an attorney. A defendant’s ambiguous or incriminating-sounding statement can become important evidence, but its meaning, context and admissibility are questions for the legal process. Collins has not been convicted, and those alleged comments should not be treated as an adjudication of guilt.
Authorities say other remarks followed at the jail. During booking, Collins was allegedly asked whether he intended to hurt himself or others and responded that he did, before making another comment about having already hurt someone. Reports also say he asked whether he was being charged with anything beyond homicide. These statements were included in police reporting about the case. They may be challenged or interpreted differently as proceedings continue, and prosecutors still bear the burden of proving every element of the charged offenses.
The kidnapping count remains less publicly explained than the murder allegation. Police booked Collins on both offenses, but the reports reviewed do not describe in sufficient detail the conduct investigators believe satisfies the kidnapping charge. It would be speculative to supply a theory not contained in the public record. The same restraint applies to a final cause-of-death finding: authorities have described extensive injuries and a suspected weapon, but the complete final medical examiner documentation was not available in the material reviewed.
At Collins’ first court appearance, a prosecutor characterized the homicide as extremely violent and argued that Collins was a dangerous person. The court set cash-only bond at roughly $1.25 million. That hearing dealt with release conditions and preliminary allegations, not a determination of guilt. First-degree murder is the most serious charge Collins faces, but charging language represents the state’s accusation; the prosecution must still establish the case through admissible evidence and the applicable criminal procedure.
For Tellez’s relatives, the legal distinctions exist alongside a permanent family loss. They said her children will no longer experience the everyday moments of having their mother with them, and they described similar grief for Tellez’s parents. Their decision to discuss relationship abuse publicly also shifted some attention from the mechanics of the police investigation to the human impact of the death. The family’s statements do not resolve the allegations in court, but they provide context about who Tellez was beyond the evidence listed in an arrest affidavit.
The case also illustrates why investigators relied on several independent sources rather than on any single statement. Witnesses supplied observations from the previous night and following morning. Surveillance gave detectives a record of movement around the apartment. The employer addressed Collins’ whereabouts. The residence contained physical evidence. Collins’ own interview supplied statements prosecutors may consider significant. Police say those strands together established probable cause, while the higher burden required for conviction remains ahead.
As of the most recent reliable material reviewed, no final court resolution had been reported. Collins remained accused of first-degree murder and kidnapping, and several questions — including the complete forensic findings, the precise theory supporting the kidnapping allegation and the ultimate evidentiary weight of Collins’ statements — remained for the continuing criminal case.
Author note: Last updated August 28, 2026.