On September 22, 1985, the body of 22-year-old African American woman Betty Stewart was found at Aquatic Park in Berkeley, California. Her throat had been slashed in a manner later linked to a series of violent attacks against young African American females across the East Bay.

Betty Stewart’s death was the first in a string of five homicides that included 17-year-old Diane Stone, 13-year-old Talita Dixon, 18-year-old Monique Davis, and 24-year-old Beverly Bryant. Those victims were found stabbed or beaten and left in public or semi-public locations in Oakland and Berkeley, prompting investigators to suspect a serial offender.

Years later DNA connected all five killings to Anthony McKnight, born in 1954. McKnight had earlier been convicted in 1987 of multiple rapes and attempted murder and was linked through forensic advances to these unsolved homicides. Anyone with memories of the East Bay in 1985 or information about Betty Stewart’s life and movements is asked to come forward.