Overview

• The ministry reported she died on September 25 in Havana of health complications related to advanced age.
• Born Joanne Deborah Byron and also known as Joanne Chesimard, she was convicted in 1977 for the 1973 New Jersey Turnpike shootout in which a police officer was killed.
• She escaped less than two years into a life sentence and reappeared in Cuba by 1984, where she lived under the name Assata Shakur.
• In 2013, the FBI placed her on its Most Wanted Terrorists list as the first woman included and offered a $1 million reward for information.
• Her presence in Cuba has been a recurring point of friction with Washington, underscored by a May statement from U.S. Senator Marco Rubio condemning Havana for harboring fugitives.