JACKSON, Miss. (AP) -- Longtime Democratic Mississippi state Sen. Bennie Turner has died. He was 64.
Sen. Hob Bryan was a longtime colleague and friend of the legislator. He told The Associated Press that Turner died Tuesday at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson, where he had been hospitalized with an illness.
Turner was a native of West Point. He was elected to the senate in 1992, and was chairman of the Judiciary Committee. His district was made up of Clay County and parts of Lowndes, Oktibbeha and Noxubee counties. He previously had a law practice and served as county prosecutor for Clay County.
Bryan said Turner championed public education and was an "extraordinarily beloved and respected'' senator.
