Natural Causes Catches Death Row Inmate Before Execution

HOUSTON (AP) _ Texas prison officials have announced the death of a death row inmate who had been getting treatment at a psychiatric unit since 2010.

John Selvage died late Wednesday after he was found unresponsive earlier in the day in his cell at the Jester IV Unit near Richmond, about 30 miles southwest of Houston.

Texas Department of Criminal Justice spokesman Jason Clark said Thursday that an autopsy will be performed to determine what caused the 61-year-old’s death.

Selvage was sentenced to death for killing Harris County sheriff’s Deputy Albert Garza during a July 1979 Houston jewelry store robbery. He had faced lethal injection at least five times, but won stays each time.

Selvage’s attorneys argued that he was mentally retarded and his death sentence was unconstitutional.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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