Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Olugbala Shakur, died in Havana at the age of 78. (Picture credit: AP)
Cuban officials said on Friday that Joanne Chesimard, also known as Assata Olugbala Shakur, died in Havana at the age of 78.
Shakur had been living in Cuba since the 1980s after escaping from a US prison, where she was serving a life sentence for killing a New Jersey state trooper.
Death In Havana
Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Shakur died on September 25, due to health complications and old age. She is survived by family members in the US, though she spent more than 40 years in Cuba as a fugitive from American justice.
Trooper Werner Foerster, the man she was convicted of killing, left behind a wife and a young son. His family and US officials have long sought justice.
(This story has just broken and is being updated)
