Familial DNA

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Nov 3 2011

Alleged predators Franklin and Hughes linked to additional slayings

In the latest developments involving accused “Grim Sleeper” suspect Lonnie David Franklin Jr., six additional murders have been attributed to the defendant, bringing the total number of alleged killings committed between 1985 and 2007 to 16.

These additional victims were linked via a combination of forensic research, specifically DNA, and circumstantial evidence.

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Sep 15 2011

Maybe there was an unbroken span of killings

As the prosecution and defense teams maneuver over legal issues, investigators continue to shift through the 1,000-plus pieces of evidence, including hundreds of photos, primarily of African American females that were found on the 81st Street property of suspected “Grim Sleeper” mass murderer Lonnie David Franklin Jr.

Aug 9 2011

Missing persons, unsolved killings

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—LAPD detectives have significantly widened the number of cases they are reviewing as they search for more victims of the Grim Sleeper serial killer, it was reported today.

Detectives are now looking at 230 missing persons cases and unsolved killings going back to the mid-1970s, seeing whether there are any links to Grim Sleeper suspect Lonnie David Franklin Jr., who has been charged in 10 killings, the Los Angeles Times reported on its website this morning.

Aug 1 2011

Lonnie Franklin Jr.

LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against the man suspected in the “Grim Sleeper” serial killings, a deputy district attorney announced today.

A jury will be asked to recommend a death sentence for 58-year-old Lonnie Franklin Jr. if he is convicted, Deputy District Attorney Beth Silverman said. Franklin has been indicted on 10 counts of murder and one count of attempted murder.

Franklin, a one-time city employee, has been locked up since his July 7, 2010, arrest.

Gregg Reese  |   OW Staff Writer
Apr 14 2011

More women may be victims

In the latest installment of the Grim Sleeper investigation, detectives are working to confirm eight additional fatalities whose deaths share significant characteristics with the 10 already attributed to the killer. Like the other unfortunates, the newly added victims apparently led troubled lives.

Rolenia Morris, 29, was added to the list after her Nevada driver license was found among paraphernalia confiscated in the home of accused defendant Lonnie David Franklin Jr., along with a series of photographs allegedly showing her in sexually explicit poses.

Across Black America

Here’s a look at African American people and issues making headlines throughout the country.
 

Alabama
Freeman A. Hrabowski, president of the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, will address the annual African American Business Council luncheon on June 28. Hrabowski, who is chairman of President Barack Obama’s Advisory Commission on Education Excellence for African Americans, has a national reputation for his work studying the performance of minority students in math and science. Hrabowski, named one of the 10 best college presidents in the country by Time magazine, was a child leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Birmingham in the 1960s.
 

Arkansas
The Liberty Counsel filed a motion and a brief in United States District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas seeking to intervene on behalf of a Concepts of Life crisis pregnancy center to defend against a suit filed by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Reproductive Rights. The groups seek to impose a permanent injunction before the Human Heartbeat Protection Act goes into effect July 18. Liberty Counsel also filed a brief opposing the ACLU’s request for an injunction. The “Heartbeat” bill states that when a woman seeks an abortion at or after the 12th week, doctors must test for a fetal heartbeat before an abortion is performed and inform the pregnant mother that the child in her womb has a heartbeat. If a heartbeat is detected, a woman cannot have an abortion, except in cases of rape, incest, and if a mother’s life is in danger. “As we promised when the legislation was introduced, Liberty Counsel will defend this law without reservation for the people of Arkansas, born and pre-born,” said Matt Staver, founder and chairman of Liberty Counsel. “No right is more foundational than the right to life. Without life, all other rights are irrelevant,” concluded Staver.