Prosecutors have charged a black man with the murders of three teenage girls he met on telephone chat lines

Sonny Pierce, 27, has been charged with three counts of first degree murder in the deaths of Mariah Edwards, 17, Kiara Windom and Kimika Coleman, both 18. Pierce has been linked to two of the victims through DNA evidence and the third through a videotape. Pierce has been in custody since August 2010 on a separate aggravated criminal assault charge involving a 15-year-old girl. In two of the murders, Pierce had sexual relations with the victims before killing them. In one case, Pierce videotaped himself having sex with the lifeless corpse of his victim after he first raped the young girl in front of friends and had them help beat her to death.