Natalie Joan Price, a 31-year-old Black woman, was found dead on February 12, 1995—not 1985—in the Vermont Knolls neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. Her body was discovered in the 500 block of West 80th Street. The circumstances surrounding her death were later linked to a series of killings that spanned over a decade in the Los Angeles area.
Investigators eventually connected Natalie Joan Price's murder to Chester DeWayne Turner, a convicted serial killer.
Turner, a former pizza delivery man and father of four, was already serving time in state prison for a 2002 rape conviction when DNA evidence linked him to the deaths of multiple women, including Price. Turner was charged with the murders of ten women and suspected in at least seven additional killings. All of the victims were women, and many were Black, like Natalie Price.
In 2007, Chester DeWayne Turner was sentenced to death for the murder of Natalie Joan Price and nine other women. The killings occurred between 1987 and 1998, and most of the victims had been strangled. Turner's arrest and conviction were made possible through genetic evidence collected during investigations into unsolved homicides and sexual assaults. Without the DNA match, authorities stated that Turner might never have come under suspicion.
Natalie Joan Price's death became part of a broader investigation into serial killings in South Los Angeles, shedding light on the vulnerability of women in marginalized communities and the challenges law enforcement faced in solving these crimes. Her case remains one of the many tragic stories tied to Turner's violent spree.
