Grieving L.A. sisters turn to Vegas

David Kihara

Friday, Jan. 20, 2006 | 9:01 a.m.

In many ways, the failed criminal justice system in Los Angeles brought Tiffany Edwards and her sister Johnna to Las Vegas.

The sisters, both originally from South Central Los Angeles, moved here to rebuild their lives, hoping to escape the anguish of living in the city where their mother was killed -- and to better deal with their frustration over prosecutors not charging an accused serial killer with their mother's death even though DNA evidence links him to it.

"We want justice," Tiffany Edwards said.

In 1992, Chester Turner, one of Los Angeles' most prolific suspected serial killers, allegedly raped and strangled their mother, 41-year-old Mary Edwards. From 1987 to 1998, Turner, a one-time pizza delivery man, allegedly stalked and killed at least 11 prostitutes, homeless women and others in South Central Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Police Department first arrested David Allen Jones, a man in his 40s with the intelligence of an 8-year-old, and accused him of killing Mary and several other women. Allen, who confessed, was convicted in 1995 and spent almost nine years behind bars before DNA evidence exonerated him.

The attorney representing Jones in a civil suit against the police department said Jones would have confessed to anything because of his limited mental abilities.

"Given a lollipop, he would have said anything," said attorney Gigi Gordon.

The sisters suspect that the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office will not charge Turner because of concern over opening up the office to litigation beyond Gordon's suit.

Prosecutors, however, are still considering whether to charge Turner in the Edwards case, said Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County DA's office.

Legal strategy, though, may keep Turner from being charged with Mary Edwards' killing. Gordon, who has been a criminal defense lawyer for more than 20 years, said it would be impractical to charge Turner with the killing for one simple reason: another man already confessed.

"The DA's office has a clear shot on 10 other murders," Gordon said. "I understand that these young ladies feel that justice wasn't done. But this guy is going to get the death penalty."

Cliff Shepard, a detective with the Los Angeles Police Department's cold case detail, was the first to link DNA to Turner. Turner was already serving an eight-year sentence for a 2002 rape conviction, and now faces 11 counts of murder. Turner has pleaded not guilty to the murders and could go to trial in March.

"I don't want to make their mom's life trivial, but he is going to be punished for the murders," Shepard said.

But legal strategies mean little to the Edwards sisters.

"Are we supposed to be happy that no one is being charged in our mother's murder?" Johnna Edwards asked. "I just want them to prosecute the man who killed my mother. It's that easy."

David Kihara can be reached at 259-2330 or at davidk@lasvegassun.com.