Floyd Durr, guilty in rape and murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, dies in Illinois prison
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Floyd Durr, the man who admitted to the 1998 rape and murder of 11-year-old Ryan Harris, a case which gained national attention when two boys were wrongly accused of the crime, died in prison on Monday.
He was 55.
Durr was imprisoned at Pontiac Correctional Center in central Illinois serving a sentence of life in prison plus 30 years for raping and killing Ryan. An Illinois Department of Corrections spokesperson confirmed Durr died in prison on Monday.
Ryan was beaten and raped in July 1998, and her body was dumped in a vacant lot in Englewood, where she was found dead the next day.
Authorities originally said two boys, then 7 and 8, confessed to the murder, but testing on Ryan's clothing later showed the boys couldn't have been responsible.
DNA evidence later linked Durr to the crime, and in 2006, he pleaded guilty. At the time, he was already serving a 125-year prison sentence for sexually assaulting other girls.
Ryan's mother had sought the death penalty for Durr, but prosecutors said his IQ was too low for him to qualify for the execution. The death penalty has since been abolished in Illinois.
Families of the two boys who were wrongly accused of the crime settled lawsuits against the city for more than $8 million. Their attorneys claimed police framed the boys and ignored evidence of their innocence. Police denied any misconduct in the case, and the city did not admit any wrongdoing in its settlements with the families.
