(CNN) -- A Florida death-row inmate convicted of abducting and murdering 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in 2005 has died, prison officials said Wednesday. 

John Couey had been sentenced to death for killing 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford in Florida in 2005. 

John Evander Couey, 51, died at 11:15 a.m. ET of natural causes, a Florida Department of Corrections spokeswoman told CNN. He had been taken to a Jacksonville, Florida, hospital from Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida. 

Because of privacy laws, no further information could be released by the Department of Corrections. 

A source close to the case told CNN that Couey's death was not unexpected and he had been ill for some time. 

"I never dreamed it would happen like this," Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford, told CNN. He said he never thought he would live long enough to see Couey put to death because of the lengthy appeals process. 

He said he was sad when he heard the news of Couey's death. "To me, death is sad," he said. "But her death, Jessie's death, has been redeemed ... I'm relieved. I'm glad it's over with." 

Couey was sentenced to die in August 2007 for abducting and raping Lunsford, then killing her by burying her alive. The girl was snatched from her bed in her family's Homosassa, Florida, home the evening of February 23, 2005, by Couey, a registered sex offender. Her body was found three weeks later, buried at the home of Couey's half-sister, who lived within sight of the Lunsford home. 

The girl's body was wrapped in plastic garbage bags, and her hands were bound with speaker wire. She was clutching a stuffed dolphin -- a toy won for her at a state fair by her father, and which Couey allowed her to bring with her when she was abducted. 
Why couldn't information be release by department of corrections?
When was couey sentenced?
Had he been ill for a long time?
Where did she win her stuffed dolphin?
Who had won it for her?
What was her fathers name?
What was Courey's middle name?
Where was the hospital he was taken to?
What town was the florida state prison in?
How far from Jessic'as home did Courey's half sister live?
Because of privacy laws
Because of privacy laws, no further information could be released by the Department of Corrections. 
2007
Couey was sentenced to die in August 2007
Yes
Couey's death was not unexpected and he had been ill for some time. 
A state fair
She was clutching a stuffed dolphin -- a toy won for her at a state fair by her father
Her father
She was clutching a stuffed dolphin -- a toy won for her at a state fair by her father,
Mark Lunsford
Jessica's father, Mark Lunsford,
Evander
John Evander Couey
Jacksonville, Florida
He had been taken to a Jacksonville, Florida, hospital from Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida. 

Starke, Florida.
Florida State Prison in Starke, Florida. 
Within sight of the Lunsford home.
Her body was found three weeks later, buried at the home of Couey's half-sister, who lived within sight of the Lunsford home.