Man on death row for Lexington murder dies

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WKYT) - A man sentenced to death for a 1998 Lexington murder has died while on death row.

David Barron, with the Kentucky Department of Public Advocacy, confirmed that Johnathon Goforth died on June 14 at a private hospital in Louisville.

Goforth had been transferred there from prison three days earlier to receive treatment for an illness.

We’re told the cause of death was sepsis secondary to invasive squamous cell carcinoma of the tongue.

Goforth was convicted in 2000 for the killing of 73-year-old Lonetta White.

Prosecutors said Goforth and Virginia Caudill beat White to death, stole her car, and set her house on fire to try to cover up the crime.

Caudill was also sentenced to death and remains on Kentucky’s death row. She is currently the only woman awaiting execution in the commonwealth.

This is a developing story.