Darius Kimbrough was executed by the State of Florida for the murder of Denise Collins
According to court documents Darius Kimbrough would sexually assault and murder Denise Collins. Darius would not be arrested until he was convicted of another sexual assault and ordered to submit his DNA which would tie him to the murder of Denise Collins
Darius Kimbrough would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
Darius Kimbrough would be executed on November 12 2013
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When Was Darius Kimbrough Executed
Darius Kimbrough was executed on November 12 2013
Darius Kimbrough Case
An Orange County man who raped and beat a 28-year-old aspiring artist to death in October 1991 was executed on Tuesday, becoming the second man executed using Florida’s new drug formula for lethal injection.
At Florida State Prison, Denise Collins’ stoic family members were among those who watched behind a glass window as 40-year-old Darius Kimbrough, strapped to a gurney and covered in a white sheet, was executed.
At 6:01 p.m., when Kimbrough was asked if he had a last statement, he said, “No, sir.” He blinked rapidly and took a breath as the execution began, but moved no more.
Only the air-conditioning unit could be heard in the room while Kimbrough’s sentence was carried out. After 17 minutes, Kimbrough was pronounced dead by a doctor at 6:18 p.m. Kimbrough had been on death row for 19 years.
Collin’s mother, sister and cousin were present for the execution, but none of Kimbrough’s family attended, said Florida Department of Corrections communications director Jessica Cary.
Three aunts, a cousin, a chaplain and a friend had visited him earlier. Kimbrough’s mother, whose birthday was Tuesday, also went to see her son one last time, Cary said.
Several hours before his execution, Kimbrough ate his final meal: two slices of pizza, fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, chicken gizzards and fruit punch. For dessert, he had chocolate-chip ice cream.
He was calm in his final hours, Cary said.
Kimbrough was 18 when he raped and murdered Collins, who had recently moved to an apartment complex south of Orlando near where Kimbrough and his mother lived.
Previously, Collins had complained to the apartment complex management that a stranger, thought to be Kimbrough, had harassed and threatened her.
Two weeks later, Kimbrough climbed a ladder that was positioned against Collins’ second-floor balcony apartment and broke in through a sliding-glass door. In her bedroom, Kimbrough raped Collins and punched her in the face, breaking her jaw and fracturing numerous bones
She died the next day in the hospital after being disconnected from life support.
On Tuesday, Kimbrough was executed using three drugs, one of which is a new drug being used by the state. The sedative used to induce unconsciousness, midazolam hydroxide, is being used instead of pentobarbital, a barbiturate that used to be the first of three drugs administered in a Florida execution until the state ran out of its supply.
Last week, two Florida federal judges dismissed challenges to the lethal injection method from seven Florida death row inmates after the inmates alleged the new drug violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.
During Tuesday’s execution, outside the prison, about 50 protesters from Our Lady of Lourdes, a Catholic church based in Daytona Beach, stood vigil. The Rev. Phil Egitto said the use of the new drug was “abhorrent.”
“Murder is getting far too efficient,” he said. “This is not justice. We need to mobilize all churches and people to stop this violence.”
Denise Collins’ sister Annette said that, in the past, she might have agreed with the protesters.
But since her sister’s murder and other more recent heinous crimes, her feelings have changed, she said.
“It’s well deserved,” she said. “I’m happy Denise received justice, and wherever she is, I hope she’s happy.”
For both Annette Collins and her mother, Diane Stewart, seeing Kimbrough’s execution was “numbing.” Stewart said she was happy with the execution, but said it was not what her daughter’s killer deserved.
“It was very peaceful, very forgiving,” Stewart said. “He went out a lot neater than she did.”
Stewart said her life since that day in 1991 has been horrendous, and all the years since have not healed the wound.
“Can’t you see it on my face?” Stewart asked, her voice rising and eyes shining. “Now we will just try to go on and pick ourselves up a little more.”
