LA Man Sentenced to Life for Girlfriend's Murder After Early Parole

A Los Angeles man convicted of murdering his girlfriend in her South Los Angeles apartment received a life sentence without the possibility of parole on Friday, marking the third killing linked to him after his early release from prison for prior murders.

Darryl Lamar Collins, 55, was sentenced by Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Craig E. Veals for the July 4, 2021, slaying of 53-year-old Fatima Johnson. Prosecutors said Collins bound Johnson's wrists and ankles with shoelaces and duct tape, gagged her with underwear and additional tape over her mouth and nose, and caused her death by asphyxia from neck pressure and possible smothering. Her body was found wrapped in a blanket inside her apartment in the 7600 block of South Western Avenue after her daughters grew concerned when she failed to show up for work or respond to messages. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.

Johnson, a mother of six and grandmother of eight, worked at a nursing home and was pursuing her nursing license at the time. Within hours of the killing, Collins pawned two of her necklaces and sold her Lexus vehicle to obtain drugs, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. He...