Diane Turner

CLEVELAND - Diane Turner, 38, of Cleveland, was the last victim identified from Imperial Avenue.

Turner had a criminal record and a history of drug abuse. She was supposed to report to an East Cleveland halfway house in May 2009, but never showed up. Police had a warrant for her arrest and she was never reported missing.

"My brother, John Turner, passed away waiting for the court to punish this animal, who killed his only daughter," Dorothy Pollard said, during the sentencing for Anthony Sowell. "May your pacemaker stop and you die tonight."

The coroner said Turner was the second victim found in the upper floor of Sowell's home, in the third-floor bedroom. Her body was next to Telacia Forston, when a Cleveland SWAT team served a warrant at Anthony Sowell’s house in October 2009.

Investigators asked a leading anthropologist and a forensic artist to help identify her remains. Kent State anthropologist C. Owen Lovejoy examined the skull and Linda Spurlock from the Cleveland Museum of Natural History developed a sketch of Turner’s face.

It took the county coroner’s office longer to identify Turner because her family members were slow to come forward. Her identity was confirmed using her daughter’s DNA.

During the trial, few people spoke about Turner. The foster mother of Turner’s daughter, Denise, said she had custody of the girl since she was only three weeks old because Turner had seizures. In July 2011, Denise was 10 years old, but saw her mother almost everyday. The foster mother, Jasneth Groves, said the last time she saw Turner was in August or September 2009. That’s when she started asking if anyone had seen her recently.

Turner worked occasionally at a Jamaican restaurant in Cleveland called Dailey’s. She washed dishes when she needed money.

The father of Turner’s daughter, James Martin, testified that he lived with Turner for a short time. In 2002, following the death of her baby, Turner developed a drug problem.

Martin did construction work on the house next to Sowell's house in October 2009.

"It smelled terrible. It's kind of hard to describe," Martin said. Martin said he was around when the police found the bodies

"Diane didn't have many friends," Martin said. Martin said he was working on the house next door when the police discovered the bodies on Imperial Avenue. When authorities began to identify the remains, he said he recognized nine of the 11 victims, including Crystal Dozier, Telacia Fortson and Kim Smith.

Turner’s last known address was about a mile from Anthony Sowell’s Imperial Avenue home.