Condemned inmate’s death in San Quentin investigated as a suicide

A California death-row inmate convicted of a quadruple murder in Compton died Thursday evening of an apparent suicide, prison officials said Friday.

Aswad Pops, 48, was being housed in a single cell at San Quentin State Prison, which holds all condemned male inmates in the state.

Pops was pronounced dead Thursday at about 7:15 p.m.

Officials from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said that the death is being investigated as a suicide.

Officials say that on Jan. 25, 1998, Pops and accomplice Byron Paul Wilson were attempting to rob the Wheels N Stuff carwash when they fatally shot carwash owner Charles Hurd, 33, and employees Michael Hoard, 41, Shawn Potter, 20, and Jessie Dunn, 36.

A Los Angeles County jury sentenced Pops to death on April 7, 2000.

There are currently 731 offenders on California’s death row, which is the largest in the nation.

The state carried out its last execution in 2006, and in March Gov. Gavin Newsom announced he was suspending the death penalty during his term in office.

Since California reinstated capital punishment in 1978, 27 inmates have committed suicide, compared to 13 who were executed in California and two who were executed in other states.

In that time 82 inmates died of natural causes, 14 died from other causes and one death is pending.

Source: sfchronicle.com, Megan Cassidy, August 30, 2019

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