Man who killed girlfriend in South LA 364 days after early parole for other murders sentenced to life

PREVIOUS: Vigil held for South LA mom of six found beaten to death, rolled up in blanket

PREVIOUS:The family of 53-year-old Fatima Johnson held a vigil Monday night after the South Los Angeles mother was found brutally murdered in her own home on the Fourth of July.

LOS ANGELES - A man convicted of killing his girlfriend within a year of being released for two other murders was sentenced Friday to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Darryl Lamar Collins, 55, was found guilty Feb. 19 in the 2021 slaying of Fatima Johnson.

The backstory:

Authorities said the body of Fatima Johnson was found rolled up inside a blanket at her home in the 7600 block of South Western Avenue in South Los Angeles’ Manchester Square neighborhood. Family members told FOX 11 she had been missing for several days before they made the horrific discovery, finding Johnson unconscious and not breathing around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday, July 3, 2021.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Woman found beaten to death, bound, gagged, rolled in blanket inside her home in South LA

Johnson was a mother of six and a grandmother of eight who worked at a nursing home and was studying for her nursing license. She had been sober for eight years at the time of her death.

In a press release, the District Attorney’s Office detailed the brutal nature of the crime: "Her cause of death was asphyxia due to neck pressure and possible smothering. Her wrists and ankles were tightly bound with shoelaces and duct tape, she was gagged with underwear, and duct tape was placed over her mouth and nose."

After the murder, investigators said Collins stole her cellphone, jewelry, and Lexus. Within hours, he pawned two of her necklaces and sold her vehicle for drugs.

The Killer’s History

Investigators noted this was not Collins' first time being convicted of murder. He was previously convicted of two separate killings in 1995. 

On Sept. 17, 1995, officials said Collins shot and killed 28-year-old Derrick Reese after carjacking him. Eleven days later, he shot and killed 44-year-old Thomas Weiss, a cashier at an Inglewood diner. Both victims were random strangers.

In Jan. 1998, Collins was sentenced to 50 years to life. However, because he was 24 years old at the time of those crimes, he was released after 25 years under the "youthful offender" parole provisions enacted by the state legislature in 2017.

What they're saying:

LA County DA Nathan Hochman noted that Collins killed Johnson just 364 days after his release.

"Darryl Collins took three innocent lives. Today’s sentence isn’t just about punishment, it’s also about protection from this sociopath to ensure he will never walk free again," Hochman said. "Had the state legislature not changed the law in 2017... Collins would have been behind bars rather than on the street and able to senselessly and brutally take another innocent life."