California’s oldest prison San Quentin has reported that a death row inmate has died of “what appears to be complications related to COVID-19,” The Washington Post reports.
According to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the facility has logged 15 COVID-19 related deaths.
At least 2,000 inmates at the maximum-security prison have been infected with the coronavirus since the outbreak, according to the newspaper.
The latest virus victim was identified as 67-year-old John Beames. Beames was sentenced to death in 1995 after he was convicted of killing a 15-month-old baby girl. He was convicted of first-degree murder and torture, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Beames is the eighth inmate on death row to die of suspected coronavirus.
The department said it has put safety measures in place in order to protect prisoners and staff. The prison has tents to treat the infected, has limited showers to cell partners only and has supplied staff with personal protective equipment.
Since March, about 10,000 inmates have been released from the state prison to help reduce the number of people and curb the spread in the facility.
The prison said it had also been able to lower capacity by suspending the intake of prisoners from county jails.
“We are working to identify even more eligible persons for release,” the department said in a statement updated on Tuesday.
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