MARION COUNTY — A 26-year-old Centralia man pleaded guilty today in Marion County to the lesser of three shooting-related charges against him, just as a jury was preparing to be seated in the attempted first-degree murder case against him.

Charles Collins pleaded guilty to a Class 1 felony for aggravated discharge of a firearm into an occupied vehicle, for firing shots in September at a vehicle occupied by Fernando Calcutt and his wife Inez. Fernando was struck in the shoulder and drove to the hospital in Centralia for treatment. He was later released.

Collins and his then girlfriend Amilia “Milli” Rivera – who was driving the SUV that Collins fired from — fled after the shooting.

Rivera returned to Centralia on her own a few months later, but Collins wasn’t apprehended for nearly six months after the shooting. He was located and arrested in Michigan then returned to Marion County to face charges, with bail set at $500,000.

Collins was initially charged with two Class X felonies for aggravated battery involving the discharge of a firearm and attempted murder.

He is scheduled to be sentenced October 4 following the completion of a pre-sentencing report. It’s expected the sentencing hearing will take half the day.

Approximately one week before shooting Calcutt, Collins himself was shot in an incident in the Maulding Drive area of Centralia that resulted in the death of 24-year-old Dustin Ryhnes of Irvington. That shooting remains under an investigation being headed by State Police. There have been no arrests in that shooting.