The Crystal man suspected of killing his 10-year-old son made another court appearance Thursday in Hennepin County District Court, where a pretrial date was scheduled.

Inside the crowded Minneapolis courtroom, Barway Collins' birth mother, Louise Karluah, stared steadily at Pierre Collins, the man charged in April with killing their son.

Authorities say Collins, 33, is the sole suspect in the death of Barway Collins, whose body was found in the Mississippi River in Brooklyn Center in April. Barway had been missing since March 18.

Collins, who did not speak, wore an orange jumpsuit and sat between his lawyers. He sat with his back to Karluah, who was in the front row, and his wife, Yamah Collins, who stood in the back.

Members of the Liberian immigrant community filled the courtroom, as many people stood outside in the hallway.

Hennepin County District Judge Tanya Bransford scheduled Collins' pretrial court date for July 7.

Pierre Collins

Bransford also granted two motions made by Collins' lawyers. The first: Anyone working with the case cannot initiate contact with Collins and lawyers must be present if contact is initiated, unless Collins says otherwise. The request was not extended to include child protection representatives because "I don't know if that's before this court," Bransford said.

The second request was that parties in the case not be allowed to discuss any information outside the courtroom that hasn't been discussed in court.

Assistant Hennepin County Attorney Amy Sweasy didn't object to the two motions.

The charges against Collins focus heavily on cellphone signals that provide a detailed account of his whereabouts on the day Barway disappeared. Authorities have said they hope to present evidence to a grand jury for possible first-degree murder charges.

Karluah, who arrived three weeks ago from Liberia to attend her son's funeral, did not address the media on Thursday.

After the court hearing, a few people held up signs that read "Justice for Barway."

Karen Zamora • 612-673-4647

Twitter: @KarenAnelZamora