'Grim Sleeper' serial killer sentenced to death for string of murders

LOS ANGELES -- (KTLA) -- The man known as the “Grim Sleeper” serial killer, who eluded capture while prowling South Los Angeles in search of victims for over two decades, was sentenced to death on Wednesday.

The hearing in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom will give relatives of Lonnie David Franklin Jr.'s victims a chance to tell the court about the impact of the killings, which spanned from 1985 to 2007. In some of the cases, the fathers and mothers of victims died not knowing who was responsible.

Franklin, 63, was convicted earlier this year of killing nine women and a teenage girl. During the penalty phase of his trial, prosecutors connected him to five additional slayings. But detectives believe he may have killed at least 25 women.

The killer, one of California's most prolific, targeted victims who were generally young, vulnerable and, at times, ignored. The attacks failed to raise alarms the way other famous serial slayings by killers such as the Hillside Strangler or the Nightstalker did.