Crime & Safety

Inmate On Death Row Dies In San Quentin

Melvin Turner was placed on condemned status following a conviction for an "execution-style" murder in August 1979.

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Prison officials have not released the cause of death for the 67-year-old inmate.
Prison officials have not released the cause of death for the 67-year-old inmate. (Shutterstock/Eric Broder Van Dyke)

SAN QUENTIN, CA — An inmate on death row since 1979 died over the weekend at the San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, prison officials announced Wednesday.

According to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Melvin Turner, 67, was placed on "condemned status" after he was convicted along with a co-defendant for shooting two people execution-style while attempting to steal a sports car in an airport hangar. He was found guilty of first-degree murder, robbery, vehicle theft, and first-degree attempted robbery.

Prison officials said Turner died Saturday at 6:04 p.m. His cause of death was not immediately available.

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