CDCR: Condemned inmate believed to have died of COVID-19 at San Quentin

Officials with the California Department of Corrections said condemned inmate Troy A. Ashmus, 58, died Monday due to complications related to the coronavirus.

According to the CDCR, an exact cause of death will be determined by the coroner.

Ashmus was admitted to state prison from Sacramento County on Sept. 18, 1985, to serve a six-year sentence for assault with intent to commit a specific sex crime. While incarcerated, he was sentenced to death on July 25, 1986, by a Sacramento County jury for first-degree murder and forcible rape, among other charges.

He had been on death row since Sept. 1, 1986.

There are currently 718 people on California’s death row.