Naman Shrestha
A&E’s ‘Cold Case Files: The Grim Sleeper’ takes us back to the 1980s when Lonnie Franklin Jr., also known as The Grim Sleeper, and his brutal murders instilled a sense of terror in the inhabitants of South Central Los Angeles. However, out of the dozens of victims that he claimed over a span of 25 years, one of them made it out alive — Enietra Washington. Although she features in the show, questions about her whereabouts and other aspects of her life are bound to arise in the minds of the viewers.
Enietra Washington is the Sole Survivor of The Grim Sleeper
Born in the early 1960s in Hollywood, California, Enietra Margette Washington was raised in a supposedly supportive household and went to St. Eugene’s Catholic School in Los Angeles. She finished high school at Inglewood High, after which she reportedly moved to New Orleans for higher studies. There, she attended Southern University at New Orleans and earned her degree. Although she grew up as a Catholic, Enietra converted to a traditional Baptist later on in her life. In the 1980s, the city of Los Angeles saw an exponential increase in gruesome murders of African American women and sex workers.
Around the same time, the lifelong resident of South Los Angeles, Enietra, was a mother of two. Something unexpected and traumatic occurred on the night of November 19, 1988, that changed her life forever. That night, she was walking alone to the house of one of her friends when a man named Lonnie D. Franklin Jr. pulled to her side in an orange Ford Pinto and offered her a ride. It was not known that Lonnie was a serial killer who was responsible for the murder of dozens of women in the South Los Angeles area. Initially, she declined his offer, but after feeling sorry for him, she reportedly got in his car.
The next thing she knew, Lonnie shot her in the chest while driving down a secluded alleyway and pushing her out of the car. Before leaving her to die, he reportedly sexually assaulted her and took a picture of her. However, she was soon rushed to Harbor-UCLA Medical Center in Torrance and got her gunshot wound treated. Despite being shot from close range, the bullet was deflected by her ribs and sternum, missing her internal organs altogether. She was hospitalized for three weeks, but eventually, she survived the brutal attack on her and lived to tell the tale, becoming the only known survivor of the serial killer. Her survival and testimony turned out to be vital for the capture of Lonnie, also known as “The Grim Sleeper,” in 2010.
Enietra Helped Bring the Serial Killer to Justice and Currently Leads a Peaceful Life Surrounded by Her Family
In his 2016 trial, Enietra Washington testified against Lonnie and addressed him, “My name is Enietra Margette (Washington), and I’m one of your little pickups. You are truly a piece of evil. You’re right up there with Manson. The hurting part about it is that you did it to your own. You put my life in fear of people I should be proud of.” She concluded by saying, “But because you blackmailed me being a Black woman, knowing that I’m supposed to give you respect, and you took it away. So how am I supposed to give that to someone else? So now, you got that yourself, how’s your family supposed to give it to you?”
Her statements, along with a significant amount of incriminating evidence against him, helped the jury reach a guilty verdict for him. He was also convicted of Enietra’s attempted murder charge. On August 10, 2016, he was sentenced to death for his crimes. Ever since that day, Enietra Washington has been living with a sense of relief and closure. Besides ‘Cold Case Files,’ the survivor has made an appearance in quite a few other documentaries, including ‘Tales of the Grim Reaper,’ ‘Mind of a Monster,’ ‘Becoming Evil: Serial Killers,’ ‘The Mark of a Killer,’ ‘I Survived a Serial Killer,’ and ‘Serial Killer Capital: Los Angeles.’
As of today, she still resides in Los Angeles, California, and is a doting mother of three children. Besides her children, she also adores her two grandchildren. On the professional front, she reportedly has a lot of experience in the medicine industry, as she has served as a certified pharmacy technician, certified nurse assistant, private duty care, and a registered EMT. In her free time, she loves to sing her favorite songs and spend time with her loved ones.
