Assata Olugbala Shakur (/əˈsɑːtə ʃəˈkʊər/ ə-SAH-tə shə-KOOR; born JoAnne Deborah Byron, July 16, 1947[a] – September 25, 2025) was an American political activist, revolutionary, and fugitive who was a member of the Black Panther Party, and later the Black Liberation Army.[3] In 1977, she was convicted of the first-degree murder of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973. She escaped from prison in 1979 and was wanted by the FBI, with a $1 million reward for information leading to her capture, and an additional $1 million reward offered by the New Jersey attorney general.[4] She was never caught and remained a fugitive for 45 years.