More than two decades after killing a man as an 18-year-old, Terry Collins is free
Terry Collins was 18 years old when he stabbed another man to death with a 14-inch blade outside a Connecticut elementary school in May 2003. Now, 21 years after the brutal killing, Collins will be released back into society.
Showing remorse, a solid release plan and a willingness to become a contributing member of society, Collins at a Nov. 22 hearing got the decision he had been longing for: the three-member board Board of Pardons and Paroles granted him early parole. He will be released as soon as all paperwork is processed, officials said.
Under a new law that took effect Oct. 1, 2023, Public Act, 23-169, any person serving a lengthy sentence for a crime committed before he or she reached the age of 21, and who was incarcerated on or after Oct. 1, 1990, has a right to a parole hearing after serving half or more of that sentence. (Collins would have been eligible almost four years ago, but the law didn’t exist yet.)
Under the law, the board must look at whether a person has been rehabilitated and whether it is reasonably probable he or she can remain free without violating the law. It must weigh the benefits of releasing the person versus continuing the person’s incarceration both to the incarcerated person and to society at large.
Collins, who converted to Islam and legally changed his first name to Shakur in 2009, was initially sentenced to 29 years in prison under a plea deal in June 2005. In 2022, he received a commuted sentence of 25 years, with an estimated release date of May 2028.
The board reviews applications both for commutations and parole. A commutation is a shortening of a person’s actual sentence, while parole is an early release from prison that allows an inmate to return to society after serving a portion of their sentence.
The man Collins killed – Kenneth Bugbee – was 44 years old when he bled out near baseball fields outside Fisher Elementary School in Thompson, where Collins had dragged him across a parking lot after stabbing him seven times during a dispute. A teacher found Bugbee the next day and called police.
“He died in pain, alone, and in the dark,” Supervisory Assistant State’s Attorney Jacqueline McMahon said during the Nov. 22 hearing. “We will never really understand why.”
Bugbee was married with two children, and was loved – is still very loved – by his family and those who knew him, McMahon said.
“His life had value. And his life was taken from him – brutally,” she said.
Bugbee’s mother and sister both submitted letters for the hearing, read by a victim’s advocate, opposing Collins getting parole. They and the state’s attorney pointed out the irony in the fact that if Collins completed his full sentence, he would be released three and a half years from now, at age 44 – the same age Bugbee was when he was killed.
“Terry Collins should not have rights to appeal or apply for anything. He should stay incarcerated until he has served his time,” read Nina Vazquez, a representative from the Office of Victims Services, attributing the statement to Bugbee’s sister.
McMahon also opposed Collins being released on parole, saying the family has not gotten time to heal, and that Collins can wait until after he has finished paying his debt to society for his actions.
Collins, in his own statement to the board and those in attendance, apologized several times to Bugbee’s family for what happened.
“He is gone because of something I did,” Collins said. “I’m sorry. And I’ll always be sorry. And I don’t say sorry to make myself feel better. I say sorry because it’s the responsible thing to do.”
Collins said that over the past decade, he has reflected on the trauma he caused not only for the family, but for people at the elementary school, knowing that someone died on their school grounds. But at the time of the murder, he didn’t think about how his crime would affect anyone else.
Collins was characterized as a “difficult child,” he said, with an inability to focus and inability to maintain relationships. He started abusing alcohol when he was 12 years old, and was in and out of juvenile detention centers, where he witnessed abuse and was encouraged to fight other children.
He attributes his troubled youth to an unhealthy relationship with his father and witnessing domestic violence for most of his childhood, unable to intervene or convince his mother to leave abusive relationships, making him feel alone and unloved.
Now, through therapy, anger management, domestic violence prevention training, his religion and classroom experience, Collins said he has realized he has an ability and responsibility to help others.
“My worst experiences can be my best teacher,” he said. “I’m committed to helping victims become survivors … I am inspired to be for other victims of domestic violence what nobody was for me.”
Collins stressed that he is not attempting to be anyone’s superhero, only to reaffirm the power victims of domestic violence have within their own selves.
“I am coming in to be an ally,” he said, stressing the importance of coming up with plans to stop perpetuating domestic violence.
His short-term release plan is to live with his mother in a 2-bedroom apartment in West Haven and work for the family company. He recently earned an associate’s degree while at Cheshire Correctional Institution and plans to continue to earn a bachelor’s degree at Wesleyan University, which works with the incarcerated through its Center for Prison Education.
Long-term, Collins wants to pursue a master’s degree in social work, get his own apartment and become a therapist.
“During my incarceration, I’ve learned to believe that essentially people are good,” Collins said. “I hope the choices I’ve made during my incarceration means I am ready.”
Board member Michael Pohl commended Collins for his education plan and his deep insight into how his actions affected others.
“You have the ability to positively affect the community,” Pohl said. “I am really sure of that, and there’s not much we can be sure about in hearings like this.”
Jennifer Zaccagnini, who was appointed board chair last year by Gov. Ned Lamont, said that while the stabbing was a horrific, senseless crime, Collis has acknowledged responsibility and taken full accountability for his actions.
“I hope the victim’s family can get something from hearing the remorse that you’ve expressed to them,” Zaccagnini said. “You did take a lot from the community. I hope that you are able to give back, because you owe that to the community.”
The three-member board voted unanimously to grant the early release, with the conditions Collins cannot consume alcoholic beverages and cannot have any contact with the victim’s family.
The board came under fire last year over an increase in the number of criminal sentence commutations it approved. It temporarily stopped taking applications for commutations while lawmakers reviewed policies, but no new law was passed and the board eventually had to draft its own policy.