LAPD makes arrest in Grim Sleeper serial killings [Updated] | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times

LAPD makes arrest in Grim Sleeper serial killings [Updated] | L.A. NOW | Los Angeles Times:

An arrest has been made in the Grim Sleeper serial killer case. The killer is believed responsible for 11 deaths over the last three decades. During a telephone interview with The Times, Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley identified the suspect as 57-year-old Lonnie David Franklin Jr.

[For the record: 1:55 p.m.: An earlier version of this post gave an incorrect age for Franklin. He is 57.]

The series of killings included victims, mostly female, in the city of Los Angeles, in unincorporated areas of L.A. County and in Inglewood since the 1980s. A survivor in 1988 described her attacker as black, in his 20s, 5 feet, 8 inches to 5 feet, 10 inches tall, about 160 pounds, soft-spoken and articulate, with neatly trimmed hair and a pockmarked face.

DNA and ballistics evidence have connected the killings of 10 women and one man from 1985 to 2007, police said. After 1988, the killer did not commit any known homicides until 2002. He last struck on Jan. 1, 2007.

The victims the killer targeted were all black and most were apparent prostitutes or drug addicts who were sexually assaulted. A 12th victim escaped after being shot and raped.