Darius Kimbrough

Case information

Defendant: Darius Mark Kimbrough DC#: 374123 Date of birth: 12/04/72 Age at the time of the offence: two months shy of his 19th birthday (offence occurred on 10/03/91) Ninth Judicial Circuit, Orange County Case number: 92-10868 Sentencing judge: The Honorable Dorothy J. Russell

Status and procedural history

Darius Kimbrough was sentenced to death on December 9, 1994 and was executed by lethal injection on November 12, 2013.

Timeline

• 10/03/91 — Darius Kimbrough climbed a ladder to Denise Collins’ second-floor balcony at Carousel Club Apartments on Rio Grande Avenue south of Orlando, broke in through a sliding-glass door, and attacked her in her bedroom.
• 10/04/91 — Denise Collins died the next day in a hospital after life support was disconnected.
• 03/09/92 — Darius Kimbrough committed a burglary and sexual battery against a 22-year-old woman in the Conway neighborhood.
• March 1992 — The crime went unsolved until Kimbrough was arrested for raping a 22-year-old woman.
• 05/24/02 — Kimbrough filed a 3.850 appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 07/01/94 — Darius Kimbrough was indicted on Count I: First-Degree Murder; Count II: Burglary; Count III: Sexual Battery.
• 07/01/94 — Jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment.
• 11/09/94 — Jury recommended death by a vote of 11-1.
• 12/09/94 — Sentenced: Count I First-Degree Murder — Death; Count II Burglary — Life; Count III Sexual Battery — Life.
• 01/11/95 — Kimbrough filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 08/21/97 — The Florida Supreme Court affirmed Kimbrough’s conviction and sentence.
• 01/16/98 — Kimbrough filed a Petition of Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court.
• 03/23/98 — The United States Supreme Court denied the petition.
• 07/30/98 — Kimbrough filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court.
• 04/26/04 — The 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court was denied.
• 02/10/03 — Kimbrough filed a Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court.
• 06/24/04 — The Habeas Corpus was denied; the Florida Supreme Court also denied the 3.850 appeal.
• 06/24/04 — Docket #SC03-228: Darius Mark Kimbrough, Petitioner, vs. James V. Crosby, Jr., Respondent; 886 So. 2d 965; June 24, 2004.
• 06/24/04 — Docket #SC03-228 opinion reflected the initial brief of appellant, answer brief of appellee, and reply brief of appellant.
• 09/30/04 — The mandate was issued.
• 02/22/025 — Kimbrough filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the United States District Court, Middle District; the petition was pending.
• 11/12/2013 — Executed by lethal injection at Florida State Prison in Starke; pronounced dead at 6:18 p.m. after lethal chemicals began at 6:01 p.m. and the doctor pronounced him dead after procedures on the gurney.

The offence

Attack on Denise Collins (Orange County woman)

Denise Collins was discovered in her bathroom by paramedics in October 1991. She was nude, semiconscious, and covered in blood. The sliding glass door on her second-floor apartment was partially open, and there were ladder impressions on the ground under the balcony.

A resident of the apartment complex told police he had seen a man near the apartment and had seen a ladder leaning on the apartment’s balcony. Police had trouble locating the man, but he later identified Darius Kimbrough from a picture lineup. A workman at the apartment complex identified Kimbrough as the man who had watched him put away a ladder in the complex at the time of the murder.

Kimbrough climbed a ladder to Collins’ second-floor balcony at Carousel Club Apartments on Rio Grande Avenue south of Orlando, broke in through a sliding-glass door, and attacked her in her bedroom. During the struggle, Kimbrough broke Collins’ jaw and skull.

Collins was rushed to the hospital and died the next day after life support was disconnected.

Physical findings described at trial

Semen was found on Collins’ sheets and pubic hairs were found in her bed and in a towel. The medical examiner testified that the cause of death was hemorrhaging and head injury to the brain caused by blunt trauma to the face. There were bruises on her arms and evidence of vaginal injury, including tears and swelling consistent with penetration. The medical examiner’s report also described tears and swelling around her vagina.

DNA and forensic evidence

Police took semen evidence from the bed sheets and blood evidence from Collins’ body, and found pubic hairs in the bed and on a towel. Samples were sealed in a bag and sent to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement lab for analysis. The DNA evidence showed the semen taken from the bed sheets matched Kimbrough’s, and some of the pubic hairs matched Kimbrough’s. Additional pubic hairs from another unidentified black male and a Caucasian male were also found. The DNA evidence indicated that the blood samples taken from the bed matched Kimbrough’s.

Experts testified that blood and semen samples compatible with Kimbrough’s DNA were taken from Collins’ bed.

The prior attack in Conway neighborhood (March 1992)

Kimbrough was arrested after he raped another Orange County woman in March 1992 in the Conway neighborhood. This 22-year-old victim was asleep when Kimbrough, identified through fingerprints on a window, broke into her bedroom and assaulted her. He left behind DNA that linked him to the attack on Denise Collins.

A year earlier to sentencing in the Collins case, Kimbrough was sentenced to 10 1/2 years in prison for burglary with assault and sexual battery in the March 9, 1992 attack on the woman in Conway.

Complaint to apartment management before the murder

Two weeks before Denise Collins’ murder, Collins complained to management at her apartment complex that someone was following her, making lewd comments and threatening to hurt her if she called the police.

The victim and background details

Denise Collins was 28 years old. She was an aspiring graphic artist and fashion designer. She had recently moved to Carousel Club Apartments about two months before she was killed because it was affordable and allowed her two cats.

Collins went to high school in Titusville and attended colleges in Boston. She got a job at Kinko’s in Orlando after earning a fine arts degree, and she wanted to be a graphic artist. She briefly attended art school in Boston. She was described as loving cats and “big-hearted.” She was described as having a “very pleasing personality,” being outgoing and laid-back, and being “very pretty” and “a very attractive girl.”

Trial

Charges and verdicts

Darius Kimbrough was indicted as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder
• Count II: Burglary
• Count III: Sexual Battery

The jury returned guilty verdicts on all counts of the indictment.

Jury recommendation and sentencing

On 11/09/94, the jury recommended death by a vote of 11-1.

On 12/09/94, Kimbrough was sentenced as follows:

• Count I: First-Degree Murder — Death
• Count II: Burglary — Life
• Count III: Sexual Battery — Life

Appeals and collateral proceedings

Florida Supreme Court review on direct appeal

On 01/11/95, Kimbrough filed a Direct Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court. The Court found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion in allowing DNA evidence; in failing to find age as a statutory mitigator; and, prohibiting defense testimony that the victim’s ex-boyfriend had beaten her during their relationship.

The Court also found that the death sentence was not disproportionate to the crime, and that substantial evidence supported the finding that the murder was committed during the course of sexual battery.

The Florida Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence on 08/21/97.

United States Supreme Court certiorari

Kimbrough filed a Petition of Writ of Certiorari to the United States Supreme Court on 01/16/98 and it was denied on 03/23/98.

3.850 Motion and appeal

Kimbrough filed a 3.850 Motion to the Circuit Court on 07/30/98, which was denied on 04/26/04.

Kimbrough filed a 3.850 Appeal to the Florida Supreme Court on 05/24/02, which was denied on 06/24/04.

Habeas corpus

Kimbrough filed a Habeas Corpus to the Florida Supreme Court on 02/10/03, which was denied on 06/24/04.

Mandate and additional federal filing

The mandate was issued on 09/30/04.

Kimbrough filed a Petition for Writ of Habeas Corpus to the United States District Court, Middle District, on 02/22/025; it was pending.

Execution

Darius Kimbrough was executed at Florida State Prison in Starke.

Lethal chemicals began to flow through his body at 6:01 p.m. Kimbrough lay motionless for 17 minutes, and a doctor pronounced him dead at 6:18 p.m. Kimbrough was asked whether he wanted to make a statement and answered, "No, sir," when asked.

Annette Collins, the victim’s only sibling, thanked the investigators and prosecutors in a news conference after the execution. Collins said she and her mother were grateful that justice had been served. Diane Stewart, the victim’s mother, described the execution as very peaceful and quiet: "not at at all what he deserved." Stewart said Kimbrough "went out a lot cleaner and neater" than her daughter. Stewart also said that she and Collins traveled from New Jersey to watch the execution.

Hours before the execution, Kimbrough ate his last meal and visited with a chaplain and family members. He requested a final meal of two slices of pizza, fried green tomatoes, fried chicken, chicken gizzards, chocolate-chip ice cream and fruit punch. He ate most of it about 9:45 a.m. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Jessica Cary said he was visited by a chaplain and by his mother, three aunts, a cousin and a friend. Cary described his demeanor as calm.

Executions were conducted with witnesses watching through a long, horizontal pane; aside from an occasional cough, no one made a sound.

Quotes and statements

From Kimbrough during execution

Kimbrough answered, "No, sir," when asked whether he wanted to make a statement.

From Diane Stewart and Annette Collins about the execution

Diane Stewart described the execution as very peaceful and quiet: "not at all what he deserved."

Diane Stewart said Kimbrough "went out a lot cleaner and neater" than her daughter.

Diane Stewart said she believed that it was redemption for his family and for hers: "It's very important for us to see it [the execution] because it's the only redemption we'll ever have as far as he's concerned" and "And for my sister as well."

Stewart said: "There's no closure." She also said: "There's no forgiveness for him from either of us. No forgiveness whatsoever."

Stewart said: "Twenty-two years is outrageous. It's just outrageous."

Stewart said: "He's going to leave this planet much easier than she did."

In a telephone interview, Stewart said: "He lived 22 years too long and too well and he's going to go out clean and easy, and he doesn't deserve it," and "She didn't go out that way, and he doesn't deserve what he's getting. He should go out the way she did. That's how we feel."

Annette Collins said: "Sometimes you sit here even after all these years and can't believe this happened to your loved one, your family," and "It doesn't go away. The shock of it just doesn't go away."

Annette Collins said: "It looked like couture from a high-fashion store."

Annette Collins said: "There was such a beauty to her work, her personality, her relationship with others," and "I'm just glad he's going to die ... I couldn't be happier about it. He's the worst kind of human being there is."

From family described about desire for last chance

Kimbrough wrote: "If I am going to die I at least give me a fair chance to fight for my life."

From Orange-Osceola State Attorney and sheriff’s detective described

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Jeff Ashton remembered blood in Collins’ bedroom and standing at the foot of her hospital bed: he remembered standing at the foot of her hospital bed as machines kept her alive.

Riggs Gay was identified as the Orange County sheriff’s detective who investigated the killing.

Other details

Legal docket references

Florida Supreme Court Docket #84989 listed Darius Mark Kimbrough, Appellant, vs. State of Florida, Appellee, with opinion and brief listings for appellant and appellee.

Florida Supreme Court Docket #SC02-1158 listed Darius Mark Kimbrough, Appellant, vs. State of Florida, Appellee, with 886 So. 2d 965 and June 24, 2004, and brief listings.

Florida Supreme Court Docket #SC03-228 listed Darius Mark Kimbrough, Petitioner, vs. James V. Crosby, Jr., Respondent, with 886 So.

Attorneys identified in case information

• Trial attorneys: Patricia Cashman & Kelly Sims — Assistant Public Defenders
• Attorney, Direct Appeal: George D.E. Burden – Assistant Public Defender
• Attorneys, Collateral Appeals: Robert T. Strain & Carol Rodriguez – CCRC-M

State attorneys listed for execution coverage

The execution coverage identified Orange-Osceola State Attorney Jeff Ashton as one of two prosecutors on the case early in his career, with co-counsel Ted Culhan and investigator Riggs Gay.

Jury and trial procedural disputes mentioned

Kimbrough’s defense attorneys said the evidence was circumstantial and said the neighbor who placed Kimbrough by Collins’ apartment balcony was elderly and had memory lapses.

Kimbrough said he had ineffective legal representation at his trial and that his attorney didn’t hire a mental health professional to evaluate him.

Kimbrough’s attorneys had blamed Collins’ former boyfriend for the crimes; they said he had beaten her previously and had a key to her apartment. The evidence was excluded from Kimbrough’s trial, and the attorneys argued it should have been allowed.

A juror did not reveal that the juror’s fiancée was employed at the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, whose crime lab analyst testified at trial, and the DNA testing used to convict Kimbrough was faulty.

Kimbrough’s post-conviction attorney Robert Strain stated: "The defendant was denied his right to a fair and impartial jury by prejudicial pretrial publicity, by lack of a change of venue, by failure to sequester the jury and by events in the courtroom during trial."

Court officials learned after one month from conviction and before sentencing that three jurors had read a newspaper article about the victim; Kimbrough’s attorneys asked for a mistrial for the penalty phase and a separate jury was picked to decide a sentence.

Alternative identification testimony and investigation steps

A neighbor in Collins’ Orlando complex told detectives he had seen a man near Collins’ apartment near a ladder by the apartment’s balcony and later identified Darius Kimbrough, 19, as the man from a picture lineup.

A maintenance man at the complex also said Kimbrough had watched him putting away a ladder in the complex around the time of the murder.

Occupation and life details mentioned about Denise Collins

Denise Collins was described as working at a Kinko’s copy center after earning a fine arts degree, and she had wanted to be a graphic artist. She loved cats and was described as outgoing and laid-back.

Federal lawsuit mentioned

A pending federal lawsuit alleged that the drug, one of three used in the process, violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.