June 03, 2016 - 11:30 AM
LOS ANGELES - A Los Angeles jury has begun deliberating whether a serial killer known as the "Grim Sleeper" should spend his life in prison or be executed.
Attorneys presented final arguments Friday in the penalty phase of the trial nearly a month after Lonnie Franklin Jr. was convicted of murdering nine women and one teenage girl over several decades in South Los Angeles.
A prosecutor says Franklin should die for his crimes, while a defence lawyer pleaded for his client's life.
Prosecutors say Franklin killed at least four other women but he was not charged in those attacks.
Police didn't connect the crimes to a serial killer for years.
Victims' family members and community residents complained the killings weren't thoroughly investigated because the victims were poor and black and some were prostitutes who had been using cocaine.
News from © The Associated Press, 2016