An Arkansas inmate sentenced to death more than 25 years ago for killing a young girl after raping her has died in custody.
The Arkansas Department of Correction said Roger Coulter, 57, was found unresponsive in his cell at the Varner Unit shortly before 6:30 p.m. He was pronounced dead about 40 minutes later. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.
Coulter had been on death-row since 1989, when he was sentenced to death in Ashley County for the murder of 5-year-old Natasha Phelps.
Coulter lived with the mother of the child. The girl's body was found in a hollow tree covered by branches and leaves a day after Coulter left their home with her.
On Oct. 27, 1989, he was convicted in Ashley County Circuit Court. Coulter appealed the jury's verdict. The state Supreme Court affirmed his conviction and sentence in 1991.
At the time of his death, Coulter was Arkansas' longest-serving death-row inmate.