Convicted sex offender on death row dies of natural causes (AP)

[Yahoo! News]

AP - Prison officials say a convicted sex offender on death row for kidnapping, raping and burying a Florida girl alive has died of natural causes. After John Evander Couey abducted 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford from her bedroom in 2005, many states passed laws named after her that impose restrictions on sex offenders.

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The crime prompted many states to pass laws named for Jessica that impose restrictions on sex offenders, including tougher penalties and registration requirements. Florida's version also bans them and others convicted of serious crimes from school grounds.

Couey died just over a month before the Florida Supreme Court was scheduled to hear his automatic appeal. He had an IQ of 78, slightly above the level generally considered mentally disabled, but the judge rejected an argument by his lawyer that he couldn't legally be executed.

Couey spent much of his 2007 trial, which was moved to Miami because of publicity about the case, drawing in coloring books. He looked straight ahead as Circuit Judge Ric Howard told him he should be executed.