Stateville Inmate Dies Of Coronavirus At Morris Hospital

MORRIS, IL — Grundy County Coroner John Callahan announced Sunday morning that a 66-year-old prisoner from the Stateville Correctional Center has died from the new coronavirus. The inmate had been admitted as a patient at the Morris Hospital. The inmate who died was Ronald Rice, the coroner's staff said.

According to the Illinois Department of Corrections, Rice was classified as a recent medical furlough from Stateville where he had been serving a murder sentence. He also has a conviction for deviant sexual assault. Rice's crimes occurred in Cook County.

DOC records indicate Rice has been in custody of the state penal system since 1984.

In 2010, the Chicago Tribune reported that Rice, then 56, pleaded guilty to the 1980 murder of 11-year-old Eddie Gulbransen, sexually assaulting, strangling and stomping the Oak Forest boy to death.

According to Tribune archives, Rice began serving a 60-year prison sentence in 1984 for kidnapping and sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy in Calumet City. For several decades, authorities believed Rice had accidentally struck and killed the boy from Oak Forest with Rice's Camaro, then panicked and dumped the boy's body in a forest preserve.

In 2010, after Rice pleaded guilty to Eddie's murder, his mother told Tribune reporters: "It's over and that's a relief, that the truth finally came out and he's going away for the rest of his life. This way he will never hurt another little child."

Last week, Patch reported that AMITA Health Saint Joseph Medical Center in Joliet was becoming overwhelmed with an influx of prisoners from Stateville who had the coronavirus. Morris Hospital became one of the regional hospitals that would begin admitting patients from Stateville to provide relief to St. Joe's hospital in Joliet.

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