BY CHARLENE MUHAMMAD

CONTRIBUTING WRITER

The families of victims of a serial killer that targeted primarily black women in South Los Angeles in the 1980s have finally received a composite sketch of the alleged murderer from the Los Angeles Police Department after more than 20 years.

One of his survivors, attacked in 1988, said the suspect was a soft-spoken, articulate black male, between 20 to 30 years old, 5 feet 8 inches to 5 feet 10 inches, 160 pounds, with a pock-marked face.

He drove a 1970s two-door Pinto hatchback that was orange with a white stripe, tinted windows, green interior, and tan seat covers.

According to Margaret Prescod, founder of the Black Coalition Fighting Back Serial Murders, after decades of requests and a recent weeklong battle with investigators for the sketch, the group finally received it via e-mail with little discussion.

Several calls seeking comment from the LAPD were not returned.

The coalition released the sketch to reporters and concerned residents during a Nov. 21 town hall meeting at the Amistad Plaza Housing Complex Community Room in South Los Angeles.

“I’m happy that we have it now, so hopefully somebody will see this picture and know and remember something about this guy,” said Mary Alexander.

Her daughter, Alicia, was murdered in 1988 shortly after graduating from high school.   

Alicia was a lovable, kind and friendly person, she said.

“I hope we’re getting closer to justice with this. One minute I think so, but at other times I think it’s taking so long. It’s been 21 years, and they (investigators) had labeled them all as prostitutes, so I don’t think anyone cared,” Alexander said.

The other victims were Debra Jackson; Henrietta Wright; Bernita Sparks; Barbara Ware; Thomas Steele; Janecia Peters; Lachrica Jefferson; Princess Berthomieux; Valerie McCorvey; and Mary Lowe.

In the first set of 11 murders in the mid-1980s, police named the suspect the Prostitute Killer. After pressure from the coalition, the name was changed to the South Side Slayer.

Ballistics linked the early murders and DNA evidence linked the latter killings.

For Alicia’s father, Porter, neither time nor name changes have healed the wounds of losing his youngest child. He feels that there was a lack of concern by law enforcement and city government that has only added to his emptiness and pain.

“When there’s any devastation throughout the surrounding areas, floods, you name, it, the minute they strike, Govenor (Arnold) Schwarzenegger, all of them, are out there immediately dealing with it and they find the money, but we’re facing the murders for decades of our daughters, but not one time have they come out,” Porter Alexander alleged.

Coalition founder Prescod urged the community to take the opportunity to show love, support and concern for the victims.

She also made a call for volunteers to help print and pass out quality flyers of the composite sketch and photos of the known victims.

“A lot of us have been really critical … about how the LAPD has handled this investigation, about how it hasn’t been prioritized, about the lack of response from the mayor,” Prescod alleged. “When they were stealing plates or porcelain down in Beverly Hills, the mayor was down there in half an hour but meanwhile so many women in our community have died, and we haven’t heard squat from him.”

She added that the community should take the responsibility to bring awareness to the issue, partly by getting the word out, distributing flyers and telling everybody “black women’s lives count.”

“Every life is of value and we could care less what those women were forced to do for a living, especially in this economy,” she said.

The city is offering rewards for anyone who helps solve the cases ($50,000 per victim, $200,000 per claimant, $500,000 for all cases).

Meanwhile, the coalition is circulating a petition for signatures demanding, among other things:

• An urgent public information campaign on the murders.

• Complete information from the LAPD on any and all related murders and how they are being tracked.

• An accurate count of the number of women believed to have been killed by the serial killer(s).

• A congressional hearing and investigation by the Department of Justice into the handling and potential mishandling of the cases by law enforcement.

Anyone with tips about the murders or seeking more information can e-mail info@blackcoalitionfightsback.org, call (323) 221-1698, or visit www.blackcoalitionfightsback.org.