Cop Killer Dies In San Quentin Prison Cell

SAN QUENTIN, CA – A death row inmate who was convicted of killing a Southern California cop and assaulting two other police officers died at San Quentin State Prison, state officials announced Monday.

John George Brown, 71, was found unresponsive at 6:18 p.m. Sunday in his cell and pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m. at the prison in the unincorporated town of San Quentin in Marin County.

Brown was sentenced to death in Orange County for the 1980 murder of 27-year-old police officer Donald Reed and assault of two other officers who had tried to serve him a felony arrest warrant.

Brown was convicted of first-degree murder, assault with intent to murder, and assault with a deadly weapon on a police officer. He had been on death row since June 17, 1982, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Since California reinstated the death penalty in 1978, 80 inmates have died from natural causes, 26 have committed suicide, 13 have been executed in California, one was executed in Missouri, one was executed in Virginia, 12 have died from other causes, and six, including Brown, are pending cause of death.

There are currently 734 inmates on California's death row.