California

Inmate Dies at San Quentin State Prison Awaiting Execution for 1979 Rapes, Murder

Authorities say a California condemned inmate has died while awaiting execution for a series of rapes and one murder nearly four decades ago.

Corrections officials say 60-year-old Stevie Lamar Fields was found unresponsive early Tuesday in his single cell at San Quentin State Prison. He later died, but the cause of death is awaiting an autopsy.

He was sentenced to death in 1979 by a Los Angeles County jury for kidnapping, robbing, raping and murdering 26-year-old Rosemary Janet Cobb.

He also was convicted of kidnapping, robbing and raping three other women, and robbing a fifth woman in the fall of 1978.

California has not executed anyone since 2006.

There have been 14 executions since the state reinstated capital punishment in 1978, while 71 condemned inmates have died from natural causes.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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