San Quentin Inmate On Death Row Dies During Hospital Stay

SAN QUENTIN (BCN/CBS SF) -- A 43-year-old inmate on death row at San Quentin State Prison died Sunday night while he was being treated at an outside hospital, authorities said.

Joshua M. Miracle, who had been sentenced to death in 2006 in Santa Barbara County, was pronounced dead at 7:04 p.m., according to a release from prison officials.

His cause of death is under investigation and will be determined by the Marin County Sheriff's Office Coroner Division.

Prison authorities didn't release information on why Miracle had been hospitalized.

Miracle was sentenced to death in Santa Barbara County on Jan. 24, 2006, for first-degree murder with personal use of a dangerous or deadly weapon and an enhancement for committing a street gang act.

Last month, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation officials said the agency had begun the process of phasing out death row at San Quentin.

In 2019, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed an executive order placing a moratorium on the death penalty, calling the punishment a "failure" that "has discriminated against defendants who are mentally ill, Black and brown, or can't afford expensive legal representation."

The expansion of the Condemned Inmate Transfer Pilot Program will start of the process of phasing out death row housing at San Quentin, as well as the Central California Women's Facility near Chowchilla.