Southern California Cop Killer Dies On San Quentin's Death Row

SAN QUENTIN (CBS SF) -- The killer of a California police officer who had been on death row since 1982 was found unresponsive in his San Quentin State Prison cell at 6:18 p.m. on Sunday.

Custody and medical staff performed CPR but the inmate was pronounced dead at 6:47 p.m.

John George Brown, 71, was sentenced to death in Orange County for the 1980 murder of a 27-year-old Garden Grove Police Officer Donald Reed and the assault of two other officers. Brown shot at Reed and the other officers as they tried to arrest him on a felony warrant.

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

There are currently 734 offenders on California's death row. Gov. Gavin Newsom this year imposed a moratorium on executions in the state.

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