Turner was born on November 5, 1966, in Warren, Arkansas. After his parents separated, he moved to Los Angeles with his mother when he was just five years old. He attended public schools there and went to Locke High School, but he didn't finish, opting to drop out. Turner worked at Domino's Pizza both in the kitchen and as a delivery person, which he continued until his mother moved to Utah. Once she left, he found himself without a stable home and moved between various homeless shelters and missions.

In his personal life, Turner started a relationship with Felicia Collier in 1992 and together they had a child. In total, Turner has four children with different women, and several of these children were raised by his mother following his arrest.

Turner's life has been punctuated with legal troubles; he was jailed multiple times in the 1980s and 1990s for theft and drug possession. His record includes stints from 1987 to 1989, 1989 to 1992, and from 1993 to 1995. His legal troubles continued, and in 1995, he was convicted of car theft. More seriously, in 1997, he faced charges for assaulting an officer and cruelty to an animal.

Turner's adult years were marked by a series of run-ins with the law, leading to multiple incarcerations throughout the 1980s and 1990s for theft, drug possession, and later more serious crimes including car theft and assault on an officer. His life of crime deepened with his involvement in more violent acts, including cruelty to an animal.

The darkest chapter of Turner's life unfolded when DNA evidence linked him to the heinous murders of fourteen women. These crimes, mostly committed along a narrow corridor on Figueroa Street in Los Angeles, painted a gruesome trail from Gage Avenue to 108th Street. Turner's first confirmed victim, Diane Johnson, was found brutally murdered in 1987. This pattern of violence continued with each chilling discovery, from Elandra Joyce Bunn found in a trash pile to the tragic end of Regina Nadine Washington, who was six months pregnant when she was murdered.

As Turner's past unfolded through investigative work, a shocking twist emerged: David Allen Jones, previously convicted for some of the murders now attributed to Turner, had been wrongfully imprisoned. This revelation came after meticulous DNA analysis, eventually leading to Jones' exoneration and release in 2004, and a substantial compensation for the miscarriage of justice he suffered.

Ultimately, Turner was arrested and faced justice for his crimes. Convicted of eleven murders in 2007, and later four additional murders in 2014, Turner received multiple death sentences. His chilling case prompted a thorough reevaluation of DNA evidence in criminal investigations, highlighting both its power to solve crimes and correct grave judicial errors.

Today, Turner remains on death row at San Quentin State Prison, a stark end to a life marked by violence and turmoil. His case continues to evoke discussions on criminal justice, the death penalty, and the importance of DNA evidence in ensuring both accountability and justice.