Former US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor dead at 93

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor speaks during an interview with Reuters Editor-in-Chief Stephen Adler at the 92nd Street Y in New York March 15, 2012. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton/File Photo

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -Retired Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court, whose centrist views and shrewd negotiating skills allowed her to steer the nation’s law for much of her quarter-century tenure, died on Friday at the age of 93, the court said.

The court said in a statement that O'Connor died in Phoenix of complications related to advanced dementia and a respiratory illness.