Pertina Jynita Epps of Gardena, Los Angeles County, California, United States has died. She was 21.

On April 25, 2005, Epps moved back to Gardena from San Diego, San Diego County, California. At around 1:00 p.m. on April 26, 2005, the African American woman was found dead in Gardena.

A resident who was backing out of a carport discovered Epps’ body in an empty parking stall near an apartment complex in the 2700 block of West 141st Place in Gardena. The name of the resident was not released.

Epps’s cause of death was strangulation. Authorities have yet to name a suspect.

Gardena was incorporated on September 11, 1930. From 1936 to 1980, the city held a local monopoly on legal cardrooms, the taxes from which accounted for nearly a third of its annual budget.

Neighborhoods in Gardena include Hermosillo, Moneta and Strawberry Park. The city is the unincorporated community of Athens on the north, Hawthorne on the northwest, the Los Angeles neighborhood of Harbor Gateway on the east and south, Alondra Park on the west and Torrance on the southwest.

Anyone with an information about the murder of Pertina Jynita Epps is asked to contact the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.