Toshima’s Slayer Gets 27 Years to Life in Prison : Gangs: Woman was innocent victim of Westwood Village shooting in 1988. Incident shocked L.A. into the realization that street violence could occur anywhere.

Gang member Durrell DeWitt Collins was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison Friday for the 1988 shooting death of Karen Toshima in Westwood Village, a killing that shocked Los Angeles into the realization that street violence is not limited to minority neighborhoods in South and East Los Angeles.

Santa Monica Superior Court Judge James A. Albracht noted in sentencing Collins that the 23-year-old defendant had committed an “unspeakable act.” But he observed, at the same time, that Collins had been in trouble since age 11, adding that society had also failed Collins.

“It happens again and again,” Albracht said. “He (Collins) didn’t burst on the scene in Westwood. These young people are no secret to us. They are walking time bombs. We failed the Durrell Collinses of the world. We failed ourselves as a society.”

Albracht could have sentenced Collins to two consecutive life terms on two convictions: one for shooting Toshima and the other for attempted murder in firing at rival gang member Tyrone Swain in a street confrontation that led to Toshima’s death on Jan. 31, 1988.

But, despite what the judge admitted was his emotional “human desire for revenge,” he ordered that Collins’ life terms should run concurrently, making him eligible for parole in about 14 years.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Michael J. Duarte urged the judge to sentence Collins to consecutive life terms. The prosecutor was supported in his recommendation by a letter written to the court by Toshima’s younger brother, Kevin.

“Although my sister was not the intended victim, it was nevertheless a killing, which was pre-intended, and my sister and family, as a result, have suffered because of Collins’ premediated action,” Kevin Toshima wrote.

“Collins has a long history of violence, which his criminal record shows, but even more disdaining is his attitude of total disregard for other people and his disregard for another’s life. He doesn’t have any respect for human life and that makes him dangerous.”

Collins, who was identified by probation authorities as a member of the Rolling 60s Crips, sat with head bowed during the 40-minute hearing. He showed no emotion when his sentence was announced. His lawyer, Paul Takakjian, said he has appealed Collins’ convictions.

In arguing for a new trial, Takakjian said Collins has “maintained his innocence” and has continued to insist that he was not the one who shot Toshima.

Toshima, a graphic artist from Long Beach, was strolling with a friend along the bustling streets of upscale Westwood Village, adjacent to the UCLA campus, late on Jan. 30, 1988, when she was shot in the head. She died the next day at UCLA Medical Center after a night on life-support systems.

According to trial testimony, two factions of Crips were confronting each other across Broxton Avenue when Tyrone Swain, identified as a member of the Mansfield Hustler Crips, started to cross the street and two shots were fired. Four eyewitnesses testified that they were fired by Collins.

Police reacted by tripling patrols in Westwood Village and assigning 30 officers to the murder investigation. The action prompted criticism by black and Latino leaders, who complained that authorities had not responded so dramatically to gang shootings in their neighborhoods.

Joseph Duff, president of the Los Angeles chapter of the NAACP, described the killing of Toshima as a “watershed-type moment” that showed that escalating street violence is “non-containable.”