Assata Shakur, fugitive and prominent Black activist, dies in Cuba at 78

Cuba confirms her death from age-related illness

Joanne Deborah Byron, also known as Assata Shakur, a former member of the Black Liberation Army, in a series of photos released by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation. REUTERS/FBI/Handout via Reuters/File Photo

Assata Shakur, the former Black Liberation Army activist who became a civil rights icon for some and a wanted murderer for others after her conviction in the killing of a New Jersey state trooper, has died at 78 in Cuba, where she lived as a fugitive for decades.

Cuba's foreign ministry said on Friday that Shakur had died the day before from "health conditions and advanced age."

Shakur's life became a focal point in debates over race and justice in the United States. She faced multiple charges over the years, including robbery and kidnapping, but many cases ended in acquittals, dismissals or hung juries. Supporters say she was frequently targeted by law enforcement due to her activism.

The Black Liberation Army, to which she belonged, was an offshoot of the Black Panther Party linked by law enforcement to dozens of violent incidents in the 1970s.

In May 1973, Shakur and two colleagues were stopped by a state trooper and a shootout erupted, leaving the officer and a Black Liberation Army member dead. Shakur was shot twice.

At her 1977 trial, prosecutors argued Shakur fired first. She maintained her innocence, testifying her hands were in the air when she was shot. Doctors testified Shakur's bullet wounds were likely consistent with her hands being raised.

An all-white jury found Shakur guilty of first-degree murder, and she was sentenced to life in prison.

Two years later, members of the Black Liberation Army broke Shakur out of prison and she later escaped to Cuba, where Fidel Castro's government granted her political asylum.

The U.S. long sought her extradition.

"Sadly, it appears she has passed without being held fully accountable," New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and State Police Superintendent Colonel Patrick Callahan said in a joint statement.

Shakur, who regarded herself as the godmother of rapper Tupac Shakur, adopted her new name in 1971, forsaking what she called her "slave name."

She was born Joanne Deborah Byron, though she took her husband's last name, Chesimard, when the two married in 1967. They divorced in 1970.