Oklahoma man convicted in hate-crime killing dies in prison

McALESTER, Okla. (AP) – The Oklahoma Department of Corrections says a man serving a life sentence for the hate-crime killing of his Lebanese neighbor has died.

Department spokesman Matt Elliott said Thursday that 63-year-old Stanley Majors was found dead Wednesday in his bed at Oklahoma State Penitentiary. Majors was in the prison infirmary. No information about his condition has been made available.

Jurors convicted Majors in February of first-degree murder and hate crime charges in the 2016 shooting death of 37-year-old Khalid Jabara. Prosecutors alleged Majors killed Jabara after bombarding him with racial insults in a feud with Jabara’s family that lasted several years.

Defense attorneys argued that Majors showed signs of dementia and had problems with his long-term memory, but a mental competency examination found Majors competent to stand trial.