XI 11: Janecia Peters
Janecia Peters
On January 1st 2007, Janecia Peters, 25 was found dead by a homeless man near 9500 Western Avenue. She’d been shot in the back and dumped in a garbage bag.
Janecia Peters
Janecia Peters
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The Initial crime report for this case was originally mis-reported thus:
Janecia Peters, a 25-year-old black woman, was found dead in a trash bag in a Dumpster in South-Central Los Angeles with a possible stab wound. Her time of death was listed as 2:25 p.m. Jan. 1.
source LA. Times Homicide Report 1 -19 Jan ‘07
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Looking North down 9500 Western Avenue
44 Responses to “XI 11: Janecia Peters”
December 6th, 2008 at: 9:39 pm
What year did this happen?
December 6th, 2008 at: 9:39 pm
This is interesting. In his early murders, the Sleeper kills generally with two shots to the chest, presumably with the same handgun each time (referred to as a .25 in the first couple of profiles)
Two shots to the chest.
When he resumes in the 2000’s he’s switched to strangulation.
This one is a single shot to the back. Is this perhaps indicative of something?
December 20th, 2008 at: 1:22 am
janecia peters was killed 1/1/07. two years ago. she was shot in the back becaue she was tryna get away.
January 3rd, 2009 at: 2:32 am
Do we know if the gun from this murder is the same as the gun from the “original” murders?
January 9th, 2009 at: 10:24 pm
this is really sad. she was a good person,& a good mother. she will be missed.
January 15th, 2009 at: 4:03 pm
He’s likely switched to strangulation because the gun can be traced to him easier. I wouldn’t be surprised if the original gun isn’t sitting at the bottom of the harbor right now. No sign of attempted strangulation on this one? Bruising around the throat consistent with either hands or a forearm across the larynx? If she was attempting to get away then he got sloppy on this one and might lay low again for a bit. Of course recent reports of the DNA failing to match anything might give him a feeling of invulnerability.
January 31st, 2009 at: 11:04 pm
the method of his killings makes no difference to him, using a gun or his bare hands are used only when that particular moments requires him to do so, this is a person who has a steady job, married, and a grandfather, loving and not so violent towards those closest to him. his long gaps between murders are not intentional. hes afraid to get caught. but his inner demons will not allow him to stop killing people. he will return but he is going to make a huge mistake and his luck will ran out, he will get caught and he knows it!!!!MACK MY WORDS SIR, THE STREETS OF LOS ANGELES ARE HUNTING YOU!!!!YOU WILL SOON BE ALL OVER THE NEWS!!! HAHAHA
February 26th, 2009 at: 4:40 am
Western ave. is a major street……….didn’t they have cameras at the interesections in 2007 the time of the last killing ………..Jan. 2007……..can’t they review the tape from that time in whatever area they found the last victim…………to narrow it down to cars in the vacinity fitting the descrption of the last car the killer was known to drive……………He probably has a different car by now………….can’t they narrow it down to Pinto owners through the DMV………..ya know……..this is sick……….quess we still don’t make a difference as a people…….least this is how it seems…………..RDB
Comment by rdb — February 26, 2009 @ 4:35 am
February 26th, 2009 at: 7:07 am
“The method of his killings makes no difference to him”?
…The method by which he experiences the climax of his encounter with his victims “doesn’t matter” to him? Fabian, that’s just stupid. And you have nothing to support that theory except…. nothing.
Even if you were correct, nothing about his case is symptomatic of being steadily employed, married, loving, having grand-children or having a non-violent disposition. It’s very nice of you to give this individual the benefit of the doubt as far as being an ‘alright guy’ in private life though.
You may want to ‘mack’ my words and get back to whatever non criminology-related services you provide your own city now.
February 26th, 2009 at: 11:45 pm
Is it possible that there is two diff killers? After years his MO changed. Maybe it’s just a bad copycat.
February 27th, 2009 at: 9:48 am
There is no cure for a serial killer - they just one day stop or they get caught. A serial killer has an extreme appetite to steal life away from their victims. Whether it is a thrill kill or lust kill or just plain crazy kill because the moon told them to do it, the serial killer never questions the eternal calling to kill - they do what they do and have no remorse - only pleasure when their appetite is filled. One day they just stop because they married and have children. Then that becomes boring and off they go again killing victims that fill their imaginations with false promises of satisfaction. They are never satisfied because what they thought in their mind is always better than what it is in reality and they are often let down feeling disappointed, and search for another lust kill to relive that emotional fantasy in their minds. The mind and reality are two different things. The brain is the most errogenous zone of the human body.
February 28th, 2009 at: 2:52 am
he has a broken anniversary in the summer it gets him riled. He has difficulty during the holiday season as well…. it carries into April…..maybe a Birthday…… The cause - is either still alive and doing well……or recently died in the early 2000’s……He’s old he’s tired…. he will be done when he’s dead or caught. On some level he must appear meak and approachable …. he is known by regulars …he is a tidy man - but not compulsive he would appear unusual out at night - like he didn’t belong……
March 1st, 2009 at: 4:01 am
the most recent killings are tied to the older ones due to the fact that the same gun was used and if i remember correctly even some of them was covered in trash like a lot of the older murders. That is why the police think it’s the same person do this even though some of the MO has changed.
March 10th, 2009 at: 6:34 pm
Actually, they’re connected because DNA that was found in the form of saliva on the breasts of the new victims was also found on some of the victims from the 1980’s.
March 13th, 2009 at: 9:41 am
I’m sure the police realize that the killer is a black male…duh! He definitely has a very strong religious upbringing. By the way he leaves his victims, he considers them to be trash or throw away people. He is acting as their judge and jury and executioner. It’s my belief this killer is possibly a minister. But who knows!
March 14th, 2009 at: 12:25 am
hmmm, the time gap leads one to wonder if he was in prison during this time…or maybe living elsewhere and murdering there, and they have not connected the dots yet? I have a hard time believing that he just ’stopped’ altogether.
As far as changing MO….usually the reason serial killers are caught is they have a pattern. Usually the ‘way’ that they kill someone is what gets them off, really. To say it does not matter to him to do it any way, just to get it done, that is just silly. It does matter, that is why they create a pattern.
I think it is absurd that they do not have ALL DNA profiles in 1 system, instead of all separate ones. Why would you have seperate ones anyway? The government needs to wise up and get all systems to communicate with each other, DMV records, DNA profiles, police records, etc. I believe all police records should be connected, available to all agencies to be able to match something up with their case…possibly matching the same person now living somewhere else. They have known for a while this is an issue, and they should have got it straightened out a long time ago. They need to get over themselves and the red tape they have, and work together as a team to protect others from being hurt. What happens if one of the next victims is one of their own family members and it could have been prevented, had they communicated with each other, and caught the person. ??? Just me ranting, but my goodness! This is not population control!
March 14th, 2009 at: 6:54 am
I met this minister in Food 4 less (jefferson and western ave) a couple of months ago, A man in his 50’s. He asked if I went to church, I said I hadnt been. He was looking down at my breast the whole time speaking. I said to myself this man is not a minister. But I had a weird feeling about him, I ask him where his church, he told me it was called trinity church on 43rd and western, and he said for me to give him my number, and he’ll take me to church. I refused said Id drop by. I went by 43rd and western. There was not any church called trinity there. I wish the police would release the sketch of the tgs that sole survivor made, years ago. It would help. This is really spookie. The man was tall and dressed nicely. But I doubt he was a minister.
March 14th, 2009 at: 8:34 pm
What caliber gun was used in Janecia Peters killing? It seems like he went dormant after the failed killing and when he resurfaced in early 2000 he didn’t have a gun, resorting to strangulation on a weaker and more vulnerable person (14 year old). By reading all the given facts it’s my guess he was recently released from prison (or in and out of prison) keep in mind the 13 year gap. He was not sentenced in L.A. county. He fled the L.A. area (he felt he failed and ‘Jackie’ would identify him) and was probably arrested in another jurisdiction/county for a violent crime (back then in the 80s, there was no DNA database). Upon his release, he had to have paroled to the only place he knew, HOME. Look for continuing parole violations involving drugs and the parolee eventually in and out of prison so much they finally said time served. This guy is a drug addict/ex-drug addict, he is involved in church and uses that clean cut persona to charm his victims, has trouble interacting sexually with women brought on by insecurities and rejection. He is the quite and smooth type. He obviously feels very confertable in the L.A. area, dumping these women within the dark alleys that he so often rode his bike through when he was a child. He isn’t as slick as everyone thinks and does not go on the prowl but acts more on instinct and urge after a drug induced frenzy. He doesn’t crave the attention but is rather annoyed that he’s on the radar. He will and has changed his MO a bit but he will always slip up due to is instinctive impulses (saliva on breast, semen. etc…). I really would like to know ALOT more about Thomas Steele’s murder. I believe that is the link!!!!!
March 16th, 2009 at: 9:30 pm
Each of the killings involved a .25 caliber handgun, but one victim strangled? One victim had “AIDS” written on a garbage bag. Most had drug habits, maybe some involved in solicitation. If you ask me, trauma plays a huge part in this. Maybe even some sort of incest or sexual abuse. (i.e. mostly women instead on men) I think that in his own mind, this is a revenge killing
March 17th, 2009 at: 5:51 pm
I beleive that a serial killer will not change his MO. If he were to change his MO, his passion for sex/killings would have to change. I beleive that those factors occur as an adolescent, as one is experiencing puberty. If the other murders are by the same Killer, it’s highly likely that they weren’t planned….I think this man is a public figure, perhaps a local councilman/minister, etc. In his anonymous calls to report a couple of the victims, he chuckles and says he knows too many people. To me that’s a huge clue. This muderer is telling you…he’s known in the community!
Kate, entry 17 You said you wish that they would release a sketch the survivor made years ago. My question to you is, have you gone to the authorities to provide them with a sketch of the man you encountered? From your entry, I would say it’s a good chance you encountered him.
April 1st, 2009 at: 7:39 pm
in response to post #17, thru my sleuthing, i cannot find on ANY church around and/or nearby 43rd and Western in South Los Angeles that even mentions the word Trinity. maybe there is something to that?
April 1st, 2009 at: 9:22 pm
This is terrible, I think the Government should out law guns, and women in that area should be giving pepper spray or some thing to protect their selves. Every woman should go to self defense classes. There has got to be away to fight back. Because if a women does not no how to defend herself she is done for. First off the LAPD should sale pepper spray to women so at least they can try to protect them selves and second women in that area should not go out alone the more people that are together the better.
April 1st, 2009 at: 9:25 pm
To r the police said the area has changed since the first killing, now the area consists of more Latino than African Americans. Thats why you can not find out anything about that church it does not exist no more.
April 1st, 2009 at: 9:35 pm
To Number 17 you should go to the police and tell them, once when a girl from my son’s school was murdered before it happened. I was going some where and by where my son waited for the school bus their was this guy from Home Depot he called me over and showed me a guy that was hanging out there by the bus stop watching the teenage girls there he said I have been coming here every day delivering stuff to this whole block from Home depot cause there was a guy that owned the whole block and the courts ordered him to fix the houses. So he told me about it ad I asked the lady who lives in the house where they waited for the bus if she could come out and while she is picking up her yard watch out for the teens their and she did and next thing I know one other girl was murdered and they found her body in the mountains. I reported the incident to the police and they looked into it. I do not know if they caught that guy or not but at least I reported it The girl that got killed lived in the area as well but did not take the bus she walked to her friend’s house but she never showed up.
April 2nd, 2009 at: 9:22 pm
What a shame. She was beautiful. She looked just like Lauryn Hill.
April 3rd, 2009 at: 6:05 am
SilenceSays in Comment #9: The discussion board is for people to speak their thoughts. You blasted the guy in comment #8 without good reason. So, let me just point out merely one error in YOUR post. You used the word “symptomatic” entirely in the wrong context. So much for your “expert” attitude. I could point out other errors in your post, but I won’t unless you want me to.
April 3rd, 2009 at: 6:11 am
Ron in Comment # 15: Ron, you said, the killer “definitely has a very strong religious upbringing. By the way he leaves his victims, he considers them to be trash or throw away people. He is acting as their judge and jury and executioner. It’s my belief this killer is possibly a minister.”
How does he leave his victims any different than any other murderer? Because he leaves them in areas where witnesses aren’t likely to see him? i.e. dark alleys? There are trash cans in alley’s because that is where the trash collection takes place each week. You seem to make a pretty large leap from the act of merely dumping a body to the “killer is possibly a minister.”
Please explain.
April 3rd, 2009 at: 6:17 am
PJ in Comment # 16 : The police have considered the possibility that the killer was elsewhere during his times of absence. i.e. prison.
And, as stated in L.A. Weekly, you’d be interested to know that the L.A.P.D. are requesting a specific DNA screening technique to see if they can’t at least find his family tree since they haven’t matched his specific DNA to him yet. Guess what? The Attorney General of California, Jerry Brown, has been blocking the police because he worries that the wide use of the DNA screening might be an “invasion of privacy.”
Yep. Jerry Brown is playing politics while the killer is out there and DNA can be used to find him if the police are given specific permission for what they want to do. BUT Jerry Brown wants to run for Governor of California in the next election…. so he cares more, obviously, about his career than the solving of this murder. Don’t , don’t, vote for Jerry Brown for anything. The guy is absolutely only interested in his own power and his own career.
April 3rd, 2009 at: 4:34 pm
I wouldn’t say Jerry Brown is playing politics. I would say he’s trying to balance the privacy rights of millions of people with aiding the LAPD in finding the killer. Life isn’t as black and white as you suggest, and I guess until your privacy rights have been violated by some well-meaning government bureaucrat (and that is not even mentioning indentity theft, etc.), you wouldn’t understand. When DNA databases were set up, very strict rules were placed on them recognizing they could be abused. That’s Jerry Brown’s role as attorney general - to enforce the laws as they are written to protect the rights of everybody, not to throw them out the window, even in an effort as well-meaning as finding the grim sleeper killer.
April 3rd, 2009 at: 6:53 pm
BillMill in Comment # 29: Its easy to claim that Jerry Brown is “balancing” privacy rights of millions of people…… thats his own claim. Its bogus. He’s playing politics. He seeks fame. He seeks power.
You DON’T allow people to be murdered by a serial killer for any bureaucratic reason. What don’t you understand about that simple concept?
The familial DNA screening isn’t something that goes public (did you not know that?). The results would be only in the hands of the lab staff and the police. And the “invasion of privacy” isn’t anything more than the police seeing the links between the various relatives who have criminal records.
There are all kinds of Government records in which our privacy is held in order to accomplish various tasks of life. i.e. IRS tax records. Yes, occasionally a leak occurs and the people responsible are nearly always fired because computers track those employees who enter & access data. But the world does NOT stop simply because of whiners who violated the law screaming that they don’t want their DNA criminal links to be put into a study.
That said, the DNA screening could be used in this specific case to make advances in the investigation and then eventually destroyed. There are many methods to accomplish the screening that is needed in the investigation without outright blocking the screening as AG Jerry Brown has tried to do.
Its prettty ignorant to claim that the “rights” of everybody are being “thrown out the window” when the study results, as I stated, would be only in the hands of the lab staff and police.
And, I might add……. there was a reason in yesteryear why the public nicknamed then Governor Jerry Brown….. ” Governor MoonBeam.” He was a poor decision maker. He was against Prop 13 until he saw the wave of public anger.. THEN he was for Prop 13. He delayed aerial spraying for the gypsy moth because of “environmental concerns” and then when he saw the anger in the public that our agricultural industry was at risk, he switched and allowed it. His decisions are always made to advance Jerry Brown’s career…… He is the perfect example of a “political lifer” who can’t get along in the private sector employment arena and attempts to stay in Government where he can pretend to be effective. “Pretending” is the key for Jerry.
April 3rd, 2009 at: 7:01 pm
To Comment # 23, VAL : I didn’t know that Hispanics were increasing in numbers in that area. That by itself could be a reason why GS seems to be absent again. He may have felt that he stood out more in a mixed population group than previously when mostly everyone in the area was African American. That said, GS may be operating in an entirely different location.
As I posted yesterday, a serial killer has been operating in New Mexico as they are right now digging up bodies. 13 at last count. The dates of murder are guessed to be between 2000 and 2005. Also, in Florida….. and also in Nevada. Those could be the Los Angles GS. After all the publicity about him in L.A., he probably felt it necessary to ditch his weapon and kill in a different location and different manner.
April 4th, 2009 at: 11:24 pm
Gary in comments #26,27,28,30,31: I think you should become the leading detective!!!!!
April 5th, 2009 at: 7:59 pm
RDB:
Agreed, they should look at traffic cameras since the TOD was middle of the afternoon! Who doesn’t notice a shooting in the middle of the afternoon!
ABEY:Highly unlikely that it’s a copy cat because there would be no link. Copycats would try as hard as they could to copy their “idol”
VAL:That’s completely true. You should look to find if there was ever a chuch in that area with Trinity in it. Buildings change all the time, get rented, torn down, rebuilt. It’s worth checking out.
If the killer had been in prison for the 14 years that he was inactive, then his DNA would be in the system, it obviously isn’t or they would have found him by now..
We know where his dumpsites are, but where do the acts of rape and murder occur? How does he transport the body? in that tiny car? How long does it take to put a limp body into the backseat or trunk of a 2 door car with almost no trunk? and to take out? would there be carpet from the inside of the car on the victims?
I totally agree with Gary that it was time for him to leave his surroundings because of suspicion and culture. It explains his absence for 14 years, that he was in another state to continue his “game” and get people to forget about the murders in LA.
But why come back?
April 6th, 2009 at: 12:53 am
Questions for the group:
1. When did the Cosmopolitan Church shut down? Does anyone have an address?
2. If Thomas Walker was shot behind the right ear, he could not have been a passenger in the car from which he was dumped. Either he was already dead, or he was the driver? Was he or his sister affiliated with the church? What was Thomas Steele arrested for?
3. Does anyone know if 1356 E. 56th Street a single-family house or apartment? The 9-11 caller rattled that address off pretty quick, which tells me he might have been a resident, not a homeless person.
4. Did the church have a drug re-hab program?
April 6th, 2009 at: 12:54 am
Questions for the group:
1. When did the Cosmopolitan Church shut down? Does anyone have an address?
2. If Thomas Steele was shot behind the right ear, he could not have been a passenger in the car from which he was dumped. Either he was already dead, or he was the driver? Was he or his sister affiliated with the church? What was Thomas Steele arrested for?
3. Does anyone know if 1356 E. 56th Street a single-family house or apartment? The 9-11 caller rattled that address off pretty quick, which tells me he might have been a resident, not a homeless person.
4. Did the church have a drug re-hab program?
April 27th, 2009 at: 2:36 am
#17 Kate — Please provide more detail about what this man looked like. I googled Trinity Church, Los Angeles, and could find nothing in that area. However, there IS a Trinity Baptist Church at 2040 West Jefferson (between Western and Arlington). You should never give out even your phone number to a suspicious acting stranger. With just that small amount of information, using a reverse directory, he could have traced you to your street address.
May 1st, 2009 at: 6:10 pm
This is my thought, as to why it has started again after all of these years. Either he was in prison, which someone has already stated, that if he was, his DNA would already be on file. So that can pretty much rule that out, unless it is something that the labs have fallen behind on. My take is that he DID move away, and has pretty much been going business as usual. His MO may have changed some due to his surroundings and circumstances, we do not yet know. But I am thinking that possibly the death of a parent has brought him back to the LA area. Given the approximate age he is now, it is highly likely that is the reason he is back. Just a thought!
January 3rd, 2010 at: 4:18 pm
He doesn’t kill out of pleasure, he kills out of nesessity.the victim’s know him or of him. he doesn’t have DNA on file, and has to keep it that way so people close to him wont get hurt by his action’s. but his perversion’s wont let him stop the killing.
January 5th, 2010 at: 7:29 am
WTXYZ How do you know that? Plus, you can make a choice to make different choices in life and not fall into temptations of any type. We all have free will it’s each individuals choice as to what we do with it( good or bad).
February 27th, 2010 at: 12:35 am
WTXYZ (#38) I have to disagree with you. I don’t think that he knows his victims. Just read the account that the surviving victim gives. She says she was on her way to a party when a the GS (whom she did NOT know) approached her in his car. Nor do I think the victims know of him. I think to all he is a stranger. The survivor said that he was a neat, soft spoken man and she describe his car as “pimped-out,” so maybe because of his appearance and soft spoken demeanor the women don’t initially view him as a threat.
Kate (#17) You were very smart for not giving out your number and I’m glad that you are aware of the GS. The LADP has produced an aged sketch composite and there is also one posted on this website. Did the guy you encountered match any of the composites or the description of the GS (5′8-5′10 160lbs, etc)?
June 8th, 2010 at: 12:10 pm
I can see how the familial DNA testing could be an invasion of privacy. Imagine this: You are a black male living in the area. You go to submit DNA and it comes back that you are the son of the Grim Sleeper. So, they test your father who has raised you for your entire life and it turns out he is not your biological father. Your mom was raped 30 something years ago and either does not know the man’s real name or cannot remember enough about the man to ID him. Now, your family is completely destroyed, your father is accused on Nancy Grace every night of being the sleeper, your mom is accused of being a slut, and your family is completely destroyed. Tell me how that would solve the case and why it wouldn’t be an invasion of privacy.
Besides, the police leak information all of the time and noone is ever held responsible. The information obtained could be related to genetics or something that has nothing to do with a criminal case and it would come out if you were a celebrity, politician, or other public figure.
July 9th, 2010 at: 4:11 am
Reply to #41 Shannon: Familial DNA was used to arrest the suspect, in this case a SERIAL KILLER. I think your argument is weak.
If testing proved the man who raised you was not actually your father, why would he then be publicly accused of the crime the DNA report proved he could not have committed? Why would your mother be involved in a scandal? We do not live in a heartless country, who exactly would call your mother a slut if she were the victim of rape? I do see your point that it certainly would be a traumatic event in your family - you would learn your father was not your biological father, you would learn that he was a great man who supported both you & your mother in a very unfortunate circumstance. You would see that your mother did not opt for an abortion after a rape, but that she chose to raise you & to protect you. You would also learn of an unfortuante genetic link to a violent & criminal stranger, which would certainly be unsettling.
However, if you think of the many people who have been killed & how their families have suffered, and the fact that other lives probably have been saved because the Familial DNA Evidence was used to catch this SERIAL KILLER who not only KILLED NUMEROUS ADULTS (possibly more than are known) but also a FOURTEEN YEAR OLD GIRL, the REAL GOOD that has been accomplished far outweighs the imagined harm in your unlikely scenario.
Black males do not just “go to submit DNA.” The evidence was available because the killer’s son is a CONVICTED CRIMINAL.
Also, the DNA evidence left on the victims totally proves who the killer is. There will be no guessing, so I entirely support it. Who can argue against it in this case???
If you lived in the area or if one of your family members had been killed, you would spend more time appreciating that this serial killer has been removed from the streets because of very effective use of Familial DNA Evidence rather than making up far fetched stories about invasion of privacy.
Kudos the the investigators who finally broke the case. Our thanks should go to them, as well as our sympathies to the families of those who were killed. I hope that many more crimes are solved through this method in the near future, and more dangerous criminals are removed from the streets.
As far as police leaks, if a police officer commits a crime like leaking personal information, they should be held accountable. But I just don’t understand - we should not pursue serial killers using Familial DNA Evidence because some cop somewhere sometime leaked some non-DNA related info about a politician or celebrity in an entirely unrelated matter???
DNA Evidence & Familial DNA Evidence has been used to prove without a doubt who committed these horrible murders. In the case of serial killings where the DNA is consistent over a number of victims, how can anyone argue against it?
July 10th, 2010 at: 9:01 pm
I see a beautiful young ladys life taken by a sadistic person. I was once married to her beautiful mother and can see where she gets it. The killer will suffer dearly, god will do his duties, I would start off by placing pictures in his cell of all of his victim whom he will see 24hr a day.
July 12th, 2010 at: 9:19 pm
when was u married to my auntie and where did u live, cause i never heard of her being married to a David Macon….
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