Robert Todd Burmingham, also known as the Blue Light Rapist, died in prison last week from COVID-19, Arkansas officials announced. He was 54 and had been hospitalized for three weeks prior to his death.
Burmingham was serving a life sentence at Cummings Unit for rape, aggravated robbery and kidnapping. He was arrested in 1997 in Cross County, Arkansas for using a flashing blue light mounted on the dashboard of his car to pull women over and sexually assault them, which is how he became known as the Blue Light Rapist.
“Am I happy? No. Am I sad? No. I am relieved,” victim Shannon Woods told KARK after his death. Woods was just a teenager when she was kidnapped and raped by Burmingham. “Now I don’t have to worry about him being on hospital leave and potentially escaping.”
Woods went onto help pass Shannon’s Law, which made it illegal for civilians to use blue light or other law enforcement devices.
Burmingham, who maintained his innocence during his trial, is the eighth COVID-19 related death at Cummins Unit. He is survived by his spouse and two daughters.
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