A Baldwin County man who was convicted in 1998 of killing his 4-month-old son and sentenced to death has died on death row, the Alabama Department of Corrections confirmed Thursday afternoon.

The ADC said corrections officers found 58-year-old John Michael Ward unresponsive in his cell Tuesday night.

Ward was transported to the health care unit, but was ultimately transported outside the prison to a hospital, where life-saving measures were initiated.

Wednesday, Ward was pronounced dead by the attending physician, the ADC said.

The Law Enforcement Services Division is investigating the death and an autopsy will be performed.

Ward had been on death row for 26 years and 4 months, according to the ADC, after being sentenced to death by a Baldwin County jury in December 1998 for the murder of his infant son, who an autopsy revealed was smothered to death in January 1997, according to court records.

Court records also show that when the child, Nicholas Ward, was brought to the hospital by John Michael Ward and the mother, the child was not breathing, had no pulse, was cold to the touch and rigor mortis had already begun to set in.

In addition to finding no vital signs, the attending physician found abrasions on Nicholas’ scalp, nose and mouth, what appeared to be pus in his eyes, blood in his ears, bruises on the neck and chest, stool in his diaper, a deformity of his right arm and crusty material under some of his nails.

The condition of the child prompted medical personnel to contact the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, which launched the investigation which ultimately led to John Michael Ward’s conviction for capital murder.