A man convicted of sexually assaulting and killing an elderly woman in her home has died while in prison. Fred Singleton, who spent 42 years on death row for the rape and murder of Elizabeth Lominick, passed away of natural causes in a prison hospital. Singleton, 81, was the longest-serving inmate on death row in South Carolina until his death, with that title now belonging to Jamie Wilson, who committed a mass shooting at a school in the 1980s.
Legal complexities surrounded Singleton’s case for years as he was deemed incompetent for execution by the state Supreme Court. Despite this, his death sentence remained intact with the possibility of reevaluation in the future based on advances in psychology. Singleton was sentenced to death in 1983 for breaking into Ms. Lominick’s home, assaulting, and killing her when he was 38 years old. The victim’s family discovered her body at her residence in Georgetown County, South Carolina.
After stealing Ms. Lominick’s valuables, including diamond and gold rings, Singleton was apprehended when the items were found in his possession with his fingerprints on them. His death now leaves 24 men on South Carolina’s death row, down from 48 inmates in 2014. The state has executed six individuals since then, while others have had their convictions overturned or passed away naturally.
Wilson, now the longest-serving inmate on death row on the east coast of the US, was involved in the tragic shooting at a Greenwood County elementary school in 1988. Having killed two young girls and injured several others, Wilson has been on death row for over three decades. Similarly to Singleton, Wilson’s case has faced legal uncertainties due to mental health concerns, with a competency hearing held in 2011 but without a final ruling from the judge.
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