Death Row Inmate Found Dead At San Quentin

SAN QUENTIN, CA – A death row inmate who was convicted of killing two people was found dead at San Quentin State Prison, it was announced Thursday.

Emilio Avalos, 40, was found dead in his cell at about 6 p.m. Wednesday at the prison in the unincorporated town of San Quentin in Marin County. An autopsy was pending to determine the cause of his death, according to the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.

Avalos had been on death row since March 5, 2013, two weeks after he was sentenced to death by a Riverside County jury for the first-degree murder of 20-year-old Marine Cpl. Henry Lozano in 2001 and the shooting death of 17-year-old Jahi Collins in 1994. They were both killed in Desert Hot Springs.

In addition to the murder charges, Avalos was also convicted of the attempted murder of Collins' friend Bobby Wilson, who was left paralyzed in the 1994 gunfire.

Since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1978, 74 condemned inmates have died from natural causes, 25 have committed suicide and 13 have been executed, according to the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. Another eight have died from unspecified causes, while three deaths, including Avalos' death, are unresolved.

The death row inmate population is currently 745.

Photo via California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation