Darryl Lamar Collins, 55, was sentenced for the killing of his girlfriend, Fatima Johnson, a\u00a053-year-old\u00a0mother of six who was found dead by her daughters in her apartment\u00a0July\u00a04,\u00a02021.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was found with her wrists and ankles bound with shoelaces and duct tape, she was gagged with underwear and duct tape\u00a0was placed over\u00a0her mouth and nose.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Collins stole Johnson’s cell phone, jewelry and her Lexus, prosecutors said.\u00a0Hours after the murder, he\u00a0pawned two of her necklaces\u00a0and sold her vehicle\u00a0for drugs.<\/p>\n
CALIFORNIA FAMILY SUES CITY FOR $40M AFTER REPEAT OFFENDER ALLEGEDLY KILLS BELOVED LAB TECH OUTSIDE LIBRARY<\/a><\/p>\n Darryl Lamar Collins, 55, was paroled early for two separate murders and was free for less than a year when he killed his girlfriend in Los Angeles.\u00a0 (Getty Images; California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)<\/p>\n The killing happened 364 days after he was released from prison for two previous murders.\u00a0<\/p>\n “Darryl Collins took three innocent lives. Today\u2019s sentence isn\u2019t just about punishment. It\u2019s also about protection from this sociopath to ensure he will never walk free again,” Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman said.\u00a0<\/p>\n “This case shows exactly what can happen when someone with a history of extreme violence is released from prison early. We can only hope that three families who have experienced unimaginable loss find some measure of peace knowing he will never again be back in our communities.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Collins had previously been convicted of two separate murders<\/a> in 1995 and was sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life.<\/p>\n However, he was released after serving 25 years \u2014 half of his sentence \u2014 under a youthful offender parole provision enacted by state lawmakers in 2017. The law raised the cutoff for youthful offender parole from age 23 to age 25.<\/p>\n BALTIMORE KILLER COMMITS THIRD MURDER AFTER BEING PAROLED TWICE FOR PRIOR SLAYINGS<\/a><\/p>\n At the time of the two earlier murders, Collins was 24. \u00a0<\/p>\n “Had the state legislature not changed the law in 2017, almost 20 years after Collins\u2019 sentencing, raising the age cutoff from 23 to 25 for youthful offender parole, Collins would have been behind bars rather than on the street and able to senselessly and brutally take another innocent life,” said Hochman.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Sept. 17, 1995, Collins carjacked Derrick Reese, 28, who was using a payphone. After taking the vehicle, Collins backed up and shot Reese at least twice, killing him<\/a>.<\/p>\n Eleven days later, Collins tried to rob a diner where Thomas Weiss, 44, was working as a cashier. Collins held Weiss at gunpoint and fatally shot Weiss in the face.<\/p>\n On Jan. 15, 1998, Collins was sentenced to 50 years to life imprisonment.<\/p>\n Gregory Vogelsang, 57, was granted parole by the California Parole Board despite his history of child sex offenses. Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho spoke out against the decision on Thursday.\u00a0 (Sacramentio County Sheriff’s Office\u00a0)<\/p>\n![\"Darryl](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/darryl-collins-los-angeles.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Gregory](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/greg-vogelsang-sacramento-da-001.jpg\")
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