BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – An Alabama inmate serving life in prison for a 1985 double murder has died two days after he was found injured in his cell.
Victor Joseph Russo, 60, was discovered unresponsive Wednesday at William Donaldson Correctional Facility in western Jefferson County, the coroner’s office said. Russo had blunt force trauma injuries. He was taken to UAB Hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:02 a.m. Friday. al.com reported.
Chief Deputy Coroner Bill Yates said the circumstances of how Russo sustained the injuries is unknown. His death has not yet been labeled a homicide.
The circumstances surrounding the death are being investigated by the Alabama Department of Corrections Intelligence and Investigations division.
Russo was serving life without parole for the slayings of Robert Allen Sparks and Billy Curtis Raymond in Jefferson County in 1985. A jury convicted him of capital murder and recommended a death sentence, but on the day of the sentencing, Russo reached a plea agreement to life in prison without parole, records show.
Russo is the second inmate at Donaldson to die this week.
On Tuesday, Barry Wardell Gardner, 33, of Montgomery, was fatally stabbed.
Gardner was serving a 13-year sentence for 2014 convictions of theft of property and burglary in Montgomery County.
Yates said Gardner was found in an open style dormitory with sharp force injuries. He was taken to the prison infirmary where he was pronounced dead, Yates said. Gardner’s death is being investigated as a homicide.