The serial killer known as the “Grim Sleeper” was sentenced to death Wednesday for the murders of nine women and a teenage girl that went unsolved for years as the body count grew in a poor section of Los Angeles haunted by the scourge of crack cocaine.

The moment of reckoning for Lonnie Franklin Jr. came after those whose lives were altered by his violence questioned how he could have been so cruel and shown so little remorse.

“You are truly a piece of evil,” said Enietra Washington, who managed to survive after being shot and testified against him at trial. “You’re right up there with Manson.”

The killings occurred over more than two decades and community members complained that police didn’t seriously investigate them because the victims were black and poor and many were drug users and prostitutes.

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