On Tuesday, April 26, 2005, at approximately 1:00 p.m., 21-year-old Pertina Epps 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.
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, 56-year-old Charles Wright, a current resident of Hawthorne.
On Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022, an arrest warrant signed by a Superior Court Judge was executed in the city of Hawthorne and Wright was arrested for the 2005 murder of Epps.
During the case review, detectives believed both the suspect and the victim did not know each other.
Wright 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.
Republished courtesy of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.