WARNER ROBINS -- A bond hearing has been scheduled for Sept. 13 for a 17-year-old accused of shooting her sister to death before setting a fire inside the family’s Kathleen home.

Carmen Collins is charged with murder and arson in the July 3 slaying of 12-year-old India Ja’Nai Collins, a seventh-grader at Mossy Creek Middle School.

Houston County Public Defender Nick White, who is representing Carmen Collins, previously has said the teenager says she did not shoot her sister and that he has information he believes will exonerate her. He has declined to elaborate, saying he wanted to proceed with caution and deliberation.

A previous bond hearing was rescheduled in order for White to find a suitable place for Collins to stay outside of Houston County if bond is granted. White could not be reached immediately for comment Tuesday.

District Attorney George Hartwig has said that he will oppose bond.

The sisters were alone at their Addington Drive home between 5 and 7 p.m. when Carmen Collins allegedly used her parents’ .40-caliber handgun to shoot her sister in the foyer/living room area, authorities said.

Carmen Collins fled in the family’s 2011 Acura TL, taking with her the gun and the family dog, authorities said. She was arrested July 5 during a traffic stop in Columbus. Columbus police recovered the gun in a trash can outside a barbecue restaurant.

To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559.