Arizona death row inmate dies from COVID-19

May 1 (UPI) -- An inmate on Arizona's death row died of complications from the novel coronavirus, the man's lawyer announced.

Assistant Federal Public Defender Dale Baich said his client, Alfonso Salazar, 56, died Thursday. He had been housed at the state prison in Florence after being sentenced to death in 1988 for first-degree murder.

"Mr. Salazar passed away late this morning as a result of complications from COVID-19," Baich said. "He died in the hospital."

The lawyer accused the prison system of being "slow to act" in response to Salazar's illness.

"Even before the COVID-19 crisis, medical care in Arizona prisons was poor and it is the subject of ongoing litigation," he said.

"This is a critical time, and states must do much more to protect public health and to provide better care and more transparency as this virus moves through the country's prison population.

Salazar and a co-conspirator killed an 83-year-old woman after breaking into her home.