(CNN) -- A Florida death-row inmate convicted of abducting and murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in 2005 has died, prison officials said Wednesday. John Couey had been sentenced to death for killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Florida in 2005. John Evander Couey, 51, died at 11:15 a.m. ET of natural causes, a Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman told CNN. He had been taken to a Jacksonville, Florida, hospital from Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida. Because of privacy laws, no further information could be released by the Department of Corrections. A source close to the case told CNN that Couey's death was not unexpected and he had been ill for some time.
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Officials: Couey, convicted of murdering Jessica Lunsford, died of natural causes
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Couey was sentenced to die for the 2005 murder of Lunsford, 9
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Authorities: Couey abducted girl, raped her, then buried her alive
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Victim's grandmother: "I'm glad we didn't have to wait years" for execution
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He said he was sad when he heard the news of @placeholder's death.
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Her blood was found on a mattress in the home where @placeholder was living, her fingerprints also were discovered at the location.
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The judge also noted that Couey made "crude, vulgar and repulsive" comments to police after his arrest regarding his sexual assault of the girl, and the judge quoted @placeholder as saying the media was blowing the case out of proportion -- "This kind of thing happens every day."