Full Notification

LASD Homicide –Unsolved Unit Solves 16-Year-Old Murder Case of a 21-Year-Old Female Victim Using DNA   
                                         
On Tuesday, April 26, 2005, at approximately 1:00 p.m., on the 2700 block of 141st Place, Gardena, Pertina Epps, a 21-year-old black female was found lying underneath a carport. A citizen backing out of one of the four stalls in the carport discovered her lifeless body in the only empty parking stall.
 
Officers from the Gardena Police Department and rescue personnel responded to the location. Unfortunately, she was pronounced deceased at the scene.
 
After a complete investigation by the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner, the victim’s manner of death was determined to be strangulation.
 
At the time of the murder, an extensive investigation was conducted by LASD Homicide detectives and all leads were exhausted.
 
The murder of Pertina Epps remained unsolved for several years.
 
During a review of this case in 2021 by the Sheriff’s Homicide Unsolved Unit, forensic evidence left at the crime scene was resubmitted for examination, using current technology. DNA and fingerprint evidence was determined to belong to the suspect, Charles Wright, a 56-year-old black male, a current resident of Hawthorne.
 
On Thursday, January 27, 2022, at 7:45 a.m., an arrest warrant signed by a Superior Court Judge was executed in the city of Hawthorne. Suspect Wright was arrested for the 2005 murder of Pertina Epps.
 
During the case review, detectives believed both the suspect and the victim did not know each other.
 
Wright (Booking # 6314640) was transported and booked for murder at the South Los Angeles Sheriff’s Station. His bail was set at 1 million dollars. Wright later bonded out the same day of his arrest. His arraignment is scheduled for Tuesday, June 28, 2022.
 
The booking photo will not be released at this time.

Anyone with information about this incident is encouraged to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.  If you prefer to provide information anonymously, you may call "Crime Stoppers" by dialing (800) 222-TIPS (8477), use your smartphone by downloading the "P3 MOBILE APP" on Google play or the App Store, or by using the website http://lacrimestoppers.org.
 

Deputy Alejandra Parra 
Sheriff's Information Bureau 
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department 
211 West Temple Street, 
Los Angeles California 90012 
213-229-1700 
http://www.lasd.org    
 
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Alex Villanueva, Sheriff
Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department