R&B singer Sammie has spoken publicly for the first time in-depth about his mother’s ongoing criminal case, describing the months and years leading up to a 2023 shooting that left a woman dead and his family shattered.

Sammie sat down with Cam Newton on his “Funky Friday” podcast and apologized in advance for getting emotional before explaining that his mother, Angila Baxter, is “fighting a second-degree murder case, currently,” and being treated at a Florida state mental hospital rather than held in jail.

Police said Baxter opened fire at vehicles in Orlando on Jan. 21, 2023. That’s when 27-year-old Nekaybaw Collier was struck and later died. Baxter was initially charged with aggravated assault with a firearm, second-degree murder, and two counts of shooting into a vehicle, but court filings and reporting indicate she was later deemed unfit to stand trial and moved into a state psychiatric facility as evaluations and legal processes continue.

Sammie described the long downhill slide in his mother’s mental health and said she dealt with paranoid beliefs that her phone and TV were spying on her, she claimed to have been followed, and suffered episodes that made family members fear she might be hurt or hurt someone else. 

He told Newton, “Her behavior and her psyche changed four years ago. I didn’t understand it. I didn’t know what she was talking about. If you want to go down a rabbit hole of research, there’s a term called ‘gang stalking.’ Me nor my siblings understood when she would call and say, “I’m being followed, y’all need to come and see how your mom is living in Orlando. It was so bad, we’d come down there and she’d make you turn your phone off when in her house.”

He said the moment he heard of her arrest was “the worst phone call” of his life. Sammie was informed of the incident via a photo of his mother’s mugshot from his sister. It sent him into a deep personal crisis, which led to suicidal thoughts. 

“So first and foremost to Mrs. Collier, which is the deceased, who was a wife, an auntie, a sister … my condolences to her family,” Sammie said. He also asked for privacy as he and his family navigate the legal and medical complexities. Sammie said he and his siblings are balancing grief, the cost of legal defense, and concern for their mother’s well-being. He told Newton he’s spoken to his mother since the incident and counts those conversations as a blessing even as he struggles to process a reality he said he’ll “never understand.”

Baxter’s case first drew national attention in 2023 and prompted immediate media coverage and law enforcement action in Orlando. Investigators said another motorist reported seeing a woman shooting from a stopped vehicle, and Baxter was arrested days later.