Former teacher convicted of murdering one woman and sexually assaulting a second woman

A former Inglewood middle school teacher faces life in prison after being found guilty of murdering a 21-year-old woman in Gardena in 2005 and sexually assaulting another woman in Los Angeles nearly a year and a half later, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said Friday.

Charles A. Wright, 58, was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in connection with the April 26, 2005, strangulation of Pertina Epps. He was also charged with kidnapping for the purpose of oral sex and forced oral sex in connection with an attack on an 18-year-old woman on Sept. 17, 2006, prosecutors said.

Epps’ body was found by a resident in an empty parking lot in the 2700 block of 141st Place as he pulled out of a carport, authorities said.

“During a 2021 review of this case by the Sheriff’s Homicide Unsolved Unit, forensic evidence left at the crime scene was resubmitted for examination using state-of-the-art technology,” said Deputy Alejandra Parra of the Sheriff’s Information Bureau in January 2022. “DNA and fingerprints were determined to be consistent with suspect Charles Wright.”

In August 2022, Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department described the victims as “known prostitutes” and said evidence obtained during the investigation indicated that “in both cases, prostitutes were likely the target.”

Wright – a longtime middle school teacher – was still working for the Inglewood Unified School District at the time of his arrest in January 2022 and was released from custody on $1 million bail, according to the sheriff’s office.

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