Christine Pelisek
{mosimage}1. Debra Jackson, 29, was found August 10, 1985, in an alley in the
1000 block of West Gage Avenue. Cause of death: two shots to the chest.
A carpet covered her fully clothed, decomposing body. She was a cocktail waitress.
{mosimage}2. Bernita Sparks, 25, was found April 16, 1987, in an alley in the
9400 block of South Western Avenue. Cause of death: one shot to the chest, strangulation,
blunt- force trauma. Found inside trash bin covered with trash. Fully clothed.
She had no arrests for prostitution.
{mosimage}3. Henrietta Wright, 35, was found August 12, 1986, in the 2500 block
of West Vernon Avenue. Cause of death: two shots to the chest. Wrapped in a
blanket, covered with a mattress, fully clothed, no shoes.
{mosimage}4. Thomas Steele, 36, was found August 14, 1986, near 71st Street
and Halldale Avenue. Cause of death: one shot behind right ear. Dumped in road
fully clothed.
{mosimage}5. Mary Lowe, 26, was found November 1, 1987, in an alley in the
8900 block of South Hobart Boulevard. Cause of death: one shot in the chest.
{mosimage}6. Alicia Alexander, 17, was found September 11, 1988, in an alley
in the 1700 block of West 43rd Street & Western Avenue. Cause of death:
shot twice in the chest. Her nude body was covered with a mattress.
{mosimage}7. Princess Berthomieux, 14, was found March 9, 2002, in an alley
in the 8100 block of South Van Ness Avenue in Inglewood. Cause of death: strangulation.
She had been in and out of foster homes.
{mosimage}8. Carolyn Jackson, 43, was found February 5, 2003, on the sidewalk
in the 4400 block of West 111th Place in Hawthorne. Cause of death: smothering.
A divorcée with four children, Jackson was homeless toward the end of her life.
{mosimage}9. Valerie McCorvey, 35, was found July 11, 2003, near 108th Street
and Denver Avenue. Cause of death: strangulation. She had a drug habit. Four
months before she died, McCorvey left a voicemail for her aunt, saying she was
okay.
{mosimage}10. Leah Deshay Benjamin, 38, was found April 10, 2004, in an alley
in the 10600 block of Manhattan Place. Cause of death: multiple sharp and blunt
injuries to the head and face. The one-time Cal State Stanislaus student had
a history of drug-related charges.
{mosimage}11. Gail Lee Phelps, a.k.a. Denise Carraway, 41, was found
July 20, 2004, in an alley in the 13200 block of Willowbrook Avenue in
Los Angeles. Cause of death: strangulation. A ligature was found around her
neck and a mattress placed on top of her body.
{mosimage}12. Pertina Jynita Epps, 21, was found April 26, 2005, near an apartment
complex in the 2700 block of West 141st Place in Gardena. Cause of death: strangulation.
She died a day after moving back from San Diego.
{mosimage}13. Judy Day, 40, was found May 25, 2005, in the 7300 block of
Roseberry Avenue in Huntington Park. Cause of death: manual strangulation. Police
believe she may have been killed and dumped along the road.
{mosimage}14. Carrie Bradley, a.k.a. Iola Lynn Simms, 40, was found June 25,
2005, in Griffith Park. Cause of death: multiple stab wounds to the face, neck
and shoulder. Her partially clothed body was found by joggers about 10 days
after she died.
{mosimage}15. Ashley Veater, 19, was found June 28, 2005, in an alley in the
800 block of North Highland Avenue in Hollywood. Cause of death: Massive blunt-
and sharp- force trauma to the head. Veater, a perpetual runaway since age 13,
had been in L.A. for only a few days.
{mosimage}16. Earlene Suggs, 45, was found April 8, 2006, in an alley in the 11400 block
of South Berendo Avenue. Cause of death: Stab wound to the chest. Suggs had
five children and lived on and off the streets for five years.
17. Barbara Ware, 23, was found January 10, 1987 in an alley in the 1300 block of East 56th Street. Cause of death: one shot to chest. Trash covered her clothed body, and a plastic bag was draped over her upper torso and head.
18. Lachrica Jefferson, 22, was found January 30, 1988, in an alley in the 2000 block of West 102nd Street in Lennox. Cause of death: two shots to the chest. A mattress covered her fully clothed body.
19. Keyon Ervin, 17, was found June 23, 2002, at a hotel in the 6300 block of South Figueroa Street. Cause of death: strangulation. The hotel manager remembered renting a room to Ervin and a Latino man. A can of pepper spray was found under the bed.
20. Jeri Patterson, in her mid-30s, was found August 10, 2002, in an alley between 103rd Street and Broadway. Cause of death: major blunt-force trauma. She was last seen getting into a car with a heavyset black man in his mid- to late 40s.
21. Linda Stump, 43, was found April 20, 2004, in bushes in a parking lot at a Ralphs Market in Woodland Hills. Cause of death: unknown. She was a transient.
22. Marie Meridy, 48, was found March 20, 2003, in the front of a residence at 1709 West 110th Street. Cause of death: strangulation.
Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.