Kyle Collins told dispatchers he had returned from work, but detectives say evidence soon pointed back to the apartment he shared with Tellez.
MESA, Ariz. — Kyle Collins called 911 on the morning of July 21 with what sounded like a medical emergency: He said he had returned home and found his girlfriend, Cierra Tellez, unresponsive. Within hours, the 37-year-old caller had become the focus of a homicide investigation that led to charges of first-degree murder and kidnapping.
The transformation of that call into a criminal case began when Mesa police officers and fire personnel reached the downtown apartment near First and Hibbert streets. Tellez, 36, was pronounced dead inside. Officers noticed significant injuries and requested homicide detectives, according to Mesa police. Investigators then began comparing what Collins had said with the physical condition of the residence, preliminary observations from the medical examiner, statements from people who had seen the couple and records that could establish where Collins had actually been that morning.
Collins’ initial account gave detectives a straightforward timeline to test. Police say he told officers that Tellez was fine when he left for work around 9 a.m. and that he departed his workplace at about 10:30 before reaching home close to 11. He said he found the apartment door unlocked and discovered Tellez inside. That account positioned him away from the residence during a crucial part of the morning. Investigators soon found evidence they said conflicted with nearly every important part of that timeline.
The first contradiction came from the workplace. Collins’ employer told investigators that he had not come to work, according to the probable cause information described in published reports. Police said his mother had instead contacted the employer to report that Collins was taking a sick day. The employer was also told that Collins had learned his girlfriend had cheated on him and wanted time to clear his head. Authorities later said Collins himself described being angry over an alleged disclosure of infidelity. There is no independent confirmation in the reviewed material that Tellez had been unfaithful, and that claim should be understood as part of Collins’ account rather than an established fact about her.
Then detectives obtained surveillance footage from another apartment. Instead of showing Collins leave for a job and return hours later, police say the video recorded him going in and out of the couple’s residence repeatedly. At about 8:15 a.m., according to the police account, he was seen outside wearing camouflage shorts and no shirt while wiping his arms, hands and chest with what appeared to be a towel or rag before going back inside. The footage also showed Tellez entering the apartment with Collins the previous night after they had spent time with neighbors. Police said she was not captured leaving afterward.
Inside the residence, investigators reported finding extensive evidence of violence. Blood was documented in three rooms, according to court-record reporting by Arizona’s Family, and investigators found a broken metallic cane shaft with blood and hair on it. Police believed the object had been used as a weapon. Tellez had suffered numerous injuries, records cited by Law&Crime say. Authorities have treated her death as a homicide, but the reviewed sources did not contain a complete final medical examiner report publicly specifying the ultimate cause and manner findings. The physical evidence therefore remains evidence in an unresolved criminal prosecution.
The night before Tellez died provided a stark contrast to the scene officers encountered. Neighbors said they had played board games with the couple in the complex courtyard. One neighbor told Arizona’s Family they were playing Monopoly and that nothing seemed wrong. Witnesses quoted in the probable cause account said they did not remember seeing visible injuries on Tellez during the gathering. That observation helped police frame the period after the couple returned to their apartment as particularly important, although witnesses outside the home could not say what happened once the door closed.
By early the next morning, the same neighbor said Collins was upset and talking about a fight with Tellez. Collins reportedly knocked on the neighbor’s door and then spent an extended period speaking with his mother by phone. Police records say he also discussed allegations that Tellez had cheated on him. When detectives later asked Collins about the argument, he described becoming angry and said there had been a fight. His statements shifted when officers pressed him on whether that confrontation had become physical, according to the affidavit.
Investigators reported that Collins initially said he and Tellez had exchanged words and that he had walked out. When an officer asked whether he had put his hands on her, Collins allegedly answered, “That’s a lie, that is a lie.” He then made several remarks indicating that he had badly messed up and that something was his fault. When detectives asked him to explain what he meant, he requested a lawyer. The comments are part of a police account that prosecutors may seek to use in court; their evidentiary meaning has not been determined by a judge or jury.
Police said Collins also made troubling remarks after his arrest while being processed into jail. According to the affidavit, he was asked whether he planned to hurt himself or someone else and answered affirmatively before making another comment referencing having already hurt someone. Reports also say he asked within earshot of others whether he faced a charge besides homicide. As with his statements to detectives, those alleged remarks are not a substitute for proof at trial, and Collins retains the presumption of innocence unless and until prosecutors establish guilt.
The charges themselves add another unresolved issue to the case. Collins was booked not only on first-degree murder but also kidnapping. The public reports reviewed describe the homicide investigation in detail but provide far less information about the factual basis prosecutors would rely on for the kidnapping allegation. Accuracy requires leaving that gap open rather than assuming how investigators believe Tellez was restrained, moved or otherwise deprived of her freedom. Those details may emerge in court filings or later hearings.
At Collins’ initial appearance, prosecutors described the killing as exceptionally violent and argued that Collins posed a danger. His bond was set at approximately $1.25 million cash only. Prosecutors also referred to a previous history of domestic violence and kidnapping, according to Arizona’s Family. The available reports did not provide a complete record of those earlier cases, including all outcomes, and they do not establish guilt in the present matter. The current charges must be evaluated on the evidence connected to Tellez’s death.
Tellez was a mother of two children, ages 12 and 15, according to her family. Relatives later issued a statement about the loss to her children and parents and urged greater awareness of abusive relationships. Their comments added a personal dimension to a case that had initially been described publicly through a 911 call, forensic evidence and an arrest record. The family’s concerns are part of the aftermath, but they do not change the legal requirement that the state prove its allegations against Collins.
The central question created by the emergency call is now one for the courts: whether prosecutors can establish that Collins was responsible for the death he initially reported as something he discovered after coming home. Police say the employment records, surveillance footage, witness accounts, physical evidence and Collins’ own statements gave them probable cause to arrest him. Probable cause is a lower standard than the proof beyond a reasonable doubt required for a criminal conviction.
No reliable later report reviewed for this article established a final disposition of the case as of Aug. 28. Collins therefore remains an accused defendant in a pending first-degree murder and kidnapping prosecution, and authorities have not publicly resolved every question surrounding the final hours of Tellez’s life.
Author note: Last updated August 28, 2026.