Henrietta Wright, 34, of Los Angeles, was found dead on August 12, 1986, in an alley near the 2500 block of West Vernon Avenue in Hyde Park. Her body had been shot multiple times and was concealed under a discarded mattress. At the time of the discovery, the Los Angeles Police Department had no suspects and believed she may have been killed elsewhere before being dumped in the alley.

Years later, DNA linked Wright’s killing to other murders attributed to the serial killer known as the Grim Sleeper, connecting her case to a series of deaths between 1985 and 2007. Community activists had long worked to keep the victims’ names known and to press for accountability.