MARKHAM, Ill., April 21 (UPI) -- A 27-year-old suburban Chicago man was charged with murdering three teenage girls, including one he may have had sex with after she was dead, prosecutors said.
Sonny Pierce of Blue Island, Ill., 20 miles south of Chicago, allegedly strangled two 18-year-olds and a 17-year-old and then dumped their bodies, authorities said.
Kiara Windom of Harvey, Ill., was found dead in Chicago Aug. 3, 2009, and Kimika Coleman of Chicago was found dead in Blue Island 24 days later.
Pierce also allegedly killed Mariah Edwards, 17, of Blue Island last July, authorities said. But police have not found her body, and Pierce refuses to say where her remains are, court records state.
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Pierce told police he invited Edwards to his home to rape her in front of other men and then beat her with the men until she was dead, prosecutors alleged.
Police recovered a video of Pierce allegedly having what Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez described as "violent sexual relations" with Edwards, possibly after she was dead.
"This 17-year-old girl appears to be lifeless," the Chicago Sun-Times quoted Alvarez as saying. "We believe she was deceased when the video was taken."
Alvarez would not comment on whether other men were involved or other suspects were being questioned.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Darron E. Bowden in Markham, Ill., ordered Pierce held without bail Wednesday.
Pierce's mother, Esther Pierce, said her son was not guilty.
"He's my womb child and I'm going to stand and pray for my seed," she told the Sun-Times.
Windom's mother, Hallena Johnson, told the Sun-Times she wished "this state still had the penalty for that man."
She told The Chicago Tribune she wept when she saw Pierce's face for the first time on a TV news broadcast.
"He doesn't deserve to be walking around anywhere," she told the Tribune. "He doesn't belong anywhere but in hell."
