The State Attorney General's Office says a man who was convicted of abducting, raping and killing an 11-year-old Florida girl as she walked home in 2004 has died in prison.
The cause of Joseph Smith's death on Monday was not immediately known.
He was on Florida's death row for killing Carlie Brucia in Sarasota.
Smith, 55, was captured on video surveillance leading the child by the wrist as she walked past a car wash in Sarasota.
He was awaiting a resentencing hearing next year.
The Florida Supreme Court ruled that juries must be unanimous in death penalty cases, but the 2005 jury voted 10-2.
"While nothing can bring back Carlie, we are grateful that her family, her friends, and the entire Sarasota community will finally have closure and will not have to endure any further court proceedings to bring Smith to justice," State Attorney Ed Brodsky said in a statement to the Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
