Parolee's Life Sentence for Brutal Murder

Darryl Collins, 55, has been sentenced to life in prison without parole for the July 2, 2021, slaying of his girlfriend, Fatima Johnson. The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office stated that Collins bound Johnson, suffocated her, and stole her belongings to sell for drugs. Johnson was a mother of six and was working towards her nursing license. Collins had been released on parole in 2020, despite prior convictions for two murders committed in 1995. Prosecutors emphasized that Collins took three innocent lives and will now be permanently removed from communities.

The 2017 amendment to the youthful offender parole law, which raised the eligibility age cutoff from 23 to 25, was cited as a factor in Collins' early release. He was serving a 50-year sentence for two separate slayings that occurred 11 days apart in September 1995. In one incident, Collins carjacked a man and fatally shot him. In the other, he shot and killed a diner cashier during a robbery. He was convicted of murder in both cases and initially sentenced to 50 years to life.