Condemned rapist, murderer of child dies at San Quentin

A man who murdered an 8yearold San Pablo girl died in his Death Row cell at San Quentin State Prison on Wednesday afternoon and authorities are investigating whether the cause was the coronavirus.

Joseph Cordova, 75, who has been on Death Row since 2007, was found unresponsive in his cell at 4:08 p.m. and declared dead 14 minutes later, after medical personnel attempted to revive him, according to the state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. No signs of trauma were found.

The Marin County coroner is investigating the cause of death and whether Cordova had the coronavirus, which has infected 1,345 inmates and 114 prison employees as of

Thursday. All of the infections occurred since officials transferred sick inmates into the prison a month ago, which was first reported by The

Chronicle.

Officials at the coroner’s office said Thursday afternoon that they had not yet conduct

ed the examination of Cordova’s body, but they will test him for COVID19 in the next few days.

Cordova was convicted of the 1979 rape and strangulation murder of 8yearold Cannie Bullock, who was attacked in her San Pablo home while her mother was out drinking with friends. In 2002, DNA tied Cordova, then in a Colorado prison for child molestation, to the longunsolved Bullock case.

Cordova’s death was the second on Death Row in a week.

On June 24, Richard Stitely, 71, was found dead in his cell. A coroner’s investigation concluded he had the coronavirus, but it has not determined if it caused his death. Stitely was convicted in Los Angeles County of the 1990 rape and murder of 47yearold Carol Unger, and had been on Death Row since 1992.

At a state Senate oversight hearing Wednesday, legislators ripped into prison officials’ handling of the coronavirus, including the transfer of infected prisoners from a Chino prison. Before the transfer, San Quentin had no cases of COVID19.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, DBerkeley, called prison officials’ handling of the transfer “abhorrent.”

San Francisco Chronicle staff writer Suzanne Espinosa contributed to this story.

Michael Cabanatuan is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: mcaba natuan@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan

Paul Chinn / The Chronicle Confirmed COVID19 cases inside San Quentin have skyrocketed, prompting calls for the early release of some inmates.

Joseph Cordova, in a 1996 photo, was found dead Wednesday in his cell on Death Row.