LOS ANGELES—A former Inglewood high school teacher was convicted of murdering a 21-year-old woman in Gardena in 2005 and sexually assaulting another woman in Los Angeles a little less than a year and a half later. He died in prison while awaiting sentencing.

Charles A. Wright, 59, died Aug. 13 in jail, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner. His cause of death was listed as deferred, pending further testing.

According to jail records, Wright was being held at the Inmate Reception Center in downtown Los Angeles, pending a Sept. 10 hearing.

Wright faced a possible sentence of 50 years to life in prison. He was convicted last month of first-degree murder in connection with the April 26, 2005, strangulation of Pertina Epps, along with one count each of kidnapping for oral copulation and forcible oral copulation in connection with a Sept. 17, 2006, attack on an 18-year-old woman, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

Epps’ body was found in an empty parking lot in the 2700 block of 141st Place by a resident backing 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 current technology,” Sheriff’s Information Bureau Deputy Alejandra Parra said in January 2022. “DNA and fingerprint evidence was found to belong to the suspect, Charles Wright.”

Related Stories

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 “prostitutes were likely targeted in both cases.”

Wright, a longtime high school teacher, was still working for the Inglewood Unified School District at the time of his January 2022 arrest and was released after posting $1 million bail, the sheriff’s lieutenant said.

Five days after Wright’s release from prison, an analysis of DNA evidence obtained as a result of the September 2006 attack concluded that Wright was the “likely perpetrator,” the lieutenant said in August 2022.

He was subsequently rearrested and charged with both crimes, Reynaga said at the time.

Jail records show Wright has been held without bail since then.