Parks & Bethel AME Held Two Memorial Services for the Victims and Families of Grim Sleeper Victims on 25th Anniversary of Serial Killer’s First Slaying.

On August 10th, Councilmember Bernard C. Parks – Eighth District displayed 10 photographs of the "Grim Sleeper’s" known murder victims at Bethel AME Church, 7900 Blk of Western Ave. on Tuesday morning August 10th. Parks asks that members of the community stop by throughout the day and write messages of support around the photos. The temporary memorial site displaying the photos were placed in front of the Church starting at 5:00 AM. Parks, Councilmember Jan Perry 9th District and Rev. Dr. Kelvin T. Calloway, senior pastor of Bethel AME arrived at the site at 7:30 AM for a news conference and sign the photographs. Clear Channel Outdoor, donated three new billboards which recognize the 25th anniversary of the first murder, located at Century (north side), just west of Vermont, Broadway (east side), just north of 82nd and on Manchester (south side), just east of Avalon. The company has donated several billboards throughout the past 2 years to bring attention to the murders at Parks’ urging. At 6:30 PM, the photographs were moved inside the church for a special memorial service in honor of the victims and their families. The August 10th memorial celebrated the lives of the 10 victims murdered by the Grim Sleeper serial killer, on the 25th anniversary of the first known murder attributed to the killer. 29-year-old Debra Jackson was shot three times in the chest and her body was found Aug. 10, 1985, in an alley near West Gage Avenue in the Vermont-Slauson area. Rev. Dr. Kelvin T. Calloway, Senior Pastor of Bethel AME officiated at the service, with Parks, Perry, victims’ family members and LAPD detectives offering thoughts and prayers in their memory. Grief counselors were on hand to speak privately to anyone experiencing difficulty coping with these tragedies As Chief of the LAPD in 2001, Parks created the nation’s first Cold Case Unit that eventually linked the murders to suspect Lonnie Franklin Jr.