Man convicted of killing 4 OC women gets death penalty

SANTA ANA, Calif. (KABC) -- A registered sex offender convicted of kidnapping and murdering four Orange County women was sentenced to death Friday.

Steven Dean Gordon, 48, was convicted in December of raping, kidnapping and killing Kiana Jackson, Josephine Vargas, Martha Anaya and Jarrae Estepp.

At Gordon's sentencing hearing, six of the victims' family members, including their mothers, read impact statements.

"He left four women's families to hurt, to grieve and to wonder, and for this you should seek the death penalty," Jodi Estepp, mother of Jarrae, said. "He took the light right out of my life."

As he heard the statements, he began to tear up and cried during his own statement. Throughout his trial, Gordon represented himself and said he deserved the death penalty.

"I am sorry for everything, but those are hallow words compared to what those women went through," he said.

During his trial, prosecutors said the women worked as prostitutes in Santa Ana and Anaheim when Gordon and his suspected accomplice, Franc Cano, picked them up in 2014 and murdered them. Both men are registered sex offenders.

Of all the victims, only Estepp's body was found. The discovery led to multiple clues tying Gordon and Cano to the other killings.

Cano is awaiting his own trial and prosecutors announced they will also seek the death penalty against him.