Stateville Inmate Convicted of Oak Forest Murder Dies From Coronavirus

An man who was convicted of murdering and sexually assaulting a boy from suburban Oak Forest is the second inmate at Stateville Correctional Center to die after contracting the coronavirus. Ronald Rice died early yesterday at Morris Hospital in Morris, Illinois. He had been an inmate since 1984. The 66-year-old was originally sentenced for kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy from Calumet City. In 2010, Rice pleaded guilty to the 1980 sexual assault and murder of 11-year-old Eddie Gulbransen of Oak Forest. Rice’s death comes a week after another inmate at the Crest Hill correctional facility died, marking the first COVID-19-related death of an Illinois prisoner.