IN LOVING MEMORY OF DENISE COLLINS (DIED: OCTOBER 3, 1991)

         We, the comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, will always remember 28-year-old Denise Collins, who died on October 3, 1991. We offer our utmost sympathy and condolences to the loved ones of Denise. We will remember how she lived on this earth and not how she died. 

 

Denise Collins

Annette and Denise Collins, 1971.

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.K/k/kimbrough-darius-photos.htm]

MEMORIES OF DENISE COLLINS:

Denise Collins was an aspiring artist at the time of her death. She 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, but she wanted to be a graphic artist. She loved cats and was "big-hearted," said her mother. "She had a very pleasing personality. She was outgoing and laid-back," Stewart said. "She was very pretty, a very attractive girl." Collins spent her last evening listening to CDs at a friend's apartment along with other friends, including Gary Boodhoo, her former boyfriend.

Boodhoo recalled Collins as a loving person who did work in painting, drawing and collages. "There was such a beauty to her work, her personality, her relationship with others," Boodhoo said. "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."

Annette and Denise Collins.

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.K/k/kimbrough-darius-photos.htm]

             Her killer, Darius Mark Kimbrough, was executed in Florida on November 12, 2013. Let us hear from the victim’s families:

Orange-Osceola State Attorney Jeff Ashton was among the witnesses. He was one of two prosecutors on the case early in his career. On his left sat his co-counsel, Ted Culhan. To his right was Riggs Gay, the Orange County sheriff's detective who investigated the killing. 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. Her mom, Diane Stewart, described the execution as very peaceful and quiet — "not at all what he deserved." Stewart, with tears in her eyes, said Kimbrough "went out a lot cleaner and neater" than her daughter. Stewart and Collins traveled from New Jersey to watch Kimbrough die.

Collins' mother and sister were among 24 witnesses, including news media, who attended the execution. Her mother, Diane Stewart, said the last 22 years have been "horrendous" while the family waited for the legal appeals to play out. "This is well deserved," Stewart told reporters. "Let's see if we can pick ourselves up a little more and get on with our life." The sister, Annette Collins, said the execution was a numbing experience but also a relief. "I'm just happy that Denise received justice. Wherever she is, I hope she is smiling down," she said.

Denise Collins with her mother.

[PHOTO SOURCE: http://murderpedia.org/male.K/k/kimbrough-darius-photos.htm]