COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The oldest inmate on Ohio’s death row has died, and a prison spokesperson said it was likely due to the coronavirus.
James Frazier, 79, died Nov. 19 at the prison system’s Franklin Medical Center in Columbus, according to Cleveland.com. In recent months, his attorneys had sought to block execution, saying he suffered from dementia and had little idea where he was.
Frazier had been sentenced to death in 2005 for killing 49-year-old Mary Stevenson during a robbery. She was killed in March 2004 when Frazier strangled her, cut her throat and fled with two of her purses, authorities have said.