A Little River man pleaded guilty in the death of a woman whose body was found in a closet in late 2015.
On Monday, Leon Edward Collier, 48, of Little River pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in an Horry County courtroom, according to a press release from Fifteenth Circuit Solicitor Jimmy Richardson’s office. Collier was scheduled to go to trial this week without a plea.
Circuit Court Judge Bejamin Culberton sentenced Collier to 30 years for the volunary manslaughter charge.
Collier also pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful neglect of a child. Culbertson sentenced Collier to ten years for each of those charges. The sentence for manslaughter and the the sentences for child neglect will run at the same time.
Collier was arrested on December 1, 2015 after someone called 911 to express concerns that Collier “may hurt himself and he may have already hurt someone.” Officers then went to an apartment in Little River where they eventually entered through a window and found Collier. They also found the body of Christian Hope Phipps, 29, of Little River. An arrest warrant for Collier stated Phipps was suspected of killing Phipps more than a week earlier on Monday, Nov. 23.
The press release from the solicitor’s office said Collier strangled Phipps. He used charcoal, kitty litter, carpet freshener, air fresheners and candles to mask the smell of the decomposing body, according to prosecutors. However, officers reported smelling a foul odor coming from the apartment where they found Collier and the body.
Two children were forced to live in the apartment for days as the body of Phipps decomposed in a bedroom closet, investigators and prosecutors said. Arrest warrants said Collier placed a 6-year-old and 10-year-old in “unreasonable risk of harm affecting the child’s physical and mental health and safety” due to “unsanitary home conditions and lack of food in the residence.”
Joshua Holford, the senior assistant solicitor, and Leigh Andrew, an assistant solicitor, prosecuted the case for the 15th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
“I want to thank Heather Wilson, lead detective with Horry County police and other law enforcement officials for their extensive investigation and diligent efforts to bring this defendant to justice,” Holford said after the hearing in the press release. “The state firmly believes that justice was done in this case. By the defendant admitting his guilt and taking responsibility for his actions, many witnesses, especially the minor victims who were prepared to testify, were spared the ordeal of coming to court.”
