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COMPTON (CNS) - An ex-con pleaded guilty today to murdering two men and a woman in separate attacks near homeless encampments in the Rancho Dominguez area over an eight-month span.
Tracy Walker, 56, is facing 110 years to life in state prison in connection with his guilty plea to three counts of murder for the slayings of Patricia Loeza, Kenneth Edward Jones and Cesar Mazariegos, according to Deputy District Attorney Hilary Williams.
Walker also admitted he had a prior strike from 1993 for voluntary manslaughter, the prosecutor said.
He is set to be sentenced Oct. 18 in a Compton courtroom.
Loeza, 26, was found dead with stab wounds to her upper body in the 19000 block of South Susana Road on June 7, 2020.
Jones, 26, had suffered blunt force trauma and been stabbed in the upper body and was discovered dead Jan. 15 in the 20000 block of South Santa Fe Avenue.
Mazariegos' body was discovered Feb. 9 on the east side of the Compton Creek near Del Amo Boulevard, on a dirt embankment near the location where the earlier two victims had been found, according to the sheriff's department.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive for the attacks.
Walker has remained behind bars since his arrest Feb. 11 by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, jail records show.
In a statement released when Walker was charged five days later, District Attorney George Gascon said: “The heartless and brazen nature of these murders against some of the most helpless members of our community shock the conscience. My office will be seeking the appropriate justice given the circumstances, and that is why we are seeking a life sentence in this case.''
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