Assata Shakur, Tupac’s Godmother and Fugitive on FBI’s Most Wanted List Since 1979, Dies in Cuban Exile at 78

Segun Atanda/

Assata Shakur, the Black activist convicted in the 1973 killing of a New Jersey state trooper and who spent more than four decades evading a relentless FBI manhunt while living in exile in Cuba, has died at 78.

Cuba’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that she passed away in Havana on Thursday, citing health complications and advanced age.

Her daughter, Kakuya Shakur, said in a social media post that her mother “took her last earthly breath” at about 1.15pm that day.

Born JoAnne Deborah Byron in 1947, later known as Joanne Chesimard, Shakur rose to prominence in the late 1960s as a member of the Black Panther Party and later the Black Liberation Army, groups that confronted systemic racism and police violence in the United States.

Her notoriety began on May 2, 1973, when a routine traffic stop on the New Jersey Turnpike escalated into a shootout.

State Trooper, Werner Foerster, was killed, another officer wounded, and one of Shakur’s companions fatally shot. Shakur herself was also wounded before being taken into custody.

She was convicted of first-degree murder and other charges in 1977 and sentenced to life in prison. Supporters long argued she had been shot while surrendering and that the evidence did not prove she fired a weapon.

In 1979, with the help of armed allies, she escaped from a New Jersey prison and went underground.

By 1984, she had resurfaced in Cuba, where Fidel Castro’s government granted her asylum. She lived there for the rest of her life.

The U.S. government never stopped pursuing her. In 2013, the FBI placed her on its “Most Wanted Terrorists” list, the first woman ever included, and offered a $2 million reward for her capture.

Extradition attempts spanned decades, including appeals to the Vatican and direct pressure on Havana, but Cuba consistently rejected them, describing her as a victim of political persecution.

Shakur’s presence in Cuba became a recurring point of tension in U.S.–Cuba relations, even as she maintained a relatively quiet life in exile, occasionally publishing reflections and granting rare interviews.

Her 1988 autobiography, Assata: An Autobiography, became a touchstone for generations of activists.

Her personal story was also tied to one of hip-hop’s most iconic figures. She was the godmother and aunt of rapper Tupac Shakur, whose mother, Afeni Shakur, had been her close friend and fellow Black Panther.

Tupac’s mother later married Assata’s brother, making the activist a central figure in his extended family.

Reactions to her death underscored her polarising legacy. To admirers, she was a symbol of resistance against racial injustice. To U.S. officials, she was a convicted fugitive who escaped accountability.

Assemblyman, Michael Inganamort, a New Jersey lawmaker who sponsored a resolution urging Cuba to extradite her, said her passing “marks the end to a decades-long effort for justice.”

He added, “It will forever remain a tragedy that justice was never served in the senseless murder of Trooper Foerster. Joanne Chesimard was a fugitive who will never be held accountable in the United States, but New Jersey can and will always remember Trooper Foerster for his duty and sacrifice.”

Her death closes one of the longest chapters in America’s history of domestic militancy and manhunts.

Whether remembered as a freedom fighter or a convicted killer, Assata Shakur leaves behind a legacy that will continue to ignite debate over justice, race, and political resistance in America.