An Alabama prisoner who died after two days of alleged rape and torture, two weeks before his release, urged people to “pray for me” in his final social media post as he looked forward to his release.
Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama, when a guard found him unresponsive in his dorm on October 22.
While the prison said he died of a drug overdose, his family was told father-of-two Williams was “kidnapped, tied up, assaulted and extradited” by another inmate for “two or three days.”
On Oct. 15, Williams wrote on his Facebook page, “How is everyone?”
“I don’t have long left, pray for me, I’ll come home better than before, drug free.” It’s been a crazy ride, 3 different prisons now. It’s almost over.’
It is unclear how he was able to access the internet while in prison.
Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama, when a guard found him unresponsive in his dorm on Oct. 22. Williams was declared brain dead upon arrival at the hospital and is receiving palliative care. He was taken off life support on November 5 and died four days later
In one of the rooms at the ADOC Staton Correctional Facility – where Williams was held
Williams was declared brain dead upon arrival at the hospital and received palliative care. He was taken off life support on November 5 and died four days later.
At least 12 prison officers at Staton Correctional Facility – along with neighboring Elmore and Draper prisons – have been arrested for assaults on inmates in the last two years.
Federal investigators have also been examining the state of Alabama and its prisons since the Justice Department filed a scathing lawsuit in 2019.
Amber Williams, Daniel’s fiancée, told WVTM, “I went to the hospital and the nurses told me that he had been attacked really badly and beaten.” And when I walked in the room, he had bruises all over his arm, all the way down to his fingers , he had bruises here too. He had cuts on the top and bottom and bruises on his legs. And it was bad.’
Speaking about their child, Amber added: “How am I supposed to tell her about her father?” Why isn’t he here? Why did he never come home?’
The prisoner’s father, Terry Williams, and stepmother Taylor Bostic also claim that their son’s body showed signs of physical abuse, including that “his hands were tied.”
The couple claims Williams’ doctor described the alleged abuse as unlike anything he had ever seen in his 30-year medical career.
He is pictured with his fiancée Amber Williams. She visited him in hospital when he was brain dead and said he was covered in bruises from the attacks
Williams is survived by his children and his fiancée Amber
His family was not informed of his hospitalization until three days later, on October 25. They then visited him at the facility and found bruises and injuries consistent with an attack on his body. Williams is pictured with his child
The warden reportedly told his family that Williams (pictured) had suffered a “drug overdose,” but insiders at the prison claim he was “kidnapped, tied up, assaulted and sold for two or three days” by another inmate. been.
Bostic said, “I visited him.” He is beaten and bruised and you can see where his hands were tied. I mean, you can tell it’s obviously not a drug overdose.
“And then [Terry] called the warden and asked him why the hell he told us his son was dying of a drug overdose when it was obviously an assault.
“And all he could say after that was that there was an investigation.”
Bostic claims that in addition to the bruises and obvious binding, a nurse told her and Mr. Williams that there were “visible handprints between Daniel’s legs.”
The family said they had asked for a rape investigation to be carried out, but claimed their request was initially rejected. They claim hospital staff finally examined him on November 1 after hiring a lawyer. The results of the kit are still unclear.
The hospital withdrew Williams from life support on Nov. 5 and the 22-year-old was transferred to a medical unit at Kilby Correctional Center on Nov. 9.
He died shortly after his arrival.
Terry Williams, his father, also said he couldn’t raise enough money to bury his son. Instead he will be cremated.
He wrote on social media: “I will let everyone know the date and time as soon as they tell me.” Thank you everyone, I really appreciate everything.
“Daniel Terry Williams flies high son, keep mommy and grandma company, justice will be served. ‘I love you son until we meet again.’
His mother Tammy wrote online: “My world, my everything is gone, why, why, why I promise you son that I will do everything in my power to get justice for you.”
“You didn’t deserve any of this, they took you away from me, they took you away from your wife, your daughter.” You asked me every day to take care of your daughter. I promise you, my son, that I will be there for both of them.
“Your beautiful, beautiful daughter, you are a beautiful woman and I will do everything I can. I’m here for you son, I’m here for your daughter, I’m here for your wife.”
“Every day I talk to you, please keep an eye on them and don’t let anything happen to them. I promise you I would and I will continue to do that.” I love you Daniel, you are my sunshine, my only sunshine and they took you away but I’ll see you soon baby doll.
“I love you, you’ll see me soon, I love you to the moon and back.”
Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama
Daniel Williams and his fiancée Amber. His family said they couldn’t raise enough money to bury Daniel. Instead he will be cremated.
A picture that Daniel posted of himself in May
The Alabama Department of Corrections said in a statement: “On Thursday, November 9, 2023, the death of an inmate was reported at Kilby Correctional Facility.”
“At the health station, inmate Daniel Terry Williams was found to be unresponsive. Medical staff attempted to resuscitate him but were unable to revive him and the attending physician pronounced him dead.
“On Sunday, October 22, 2023, a possible inmate-on-inmate attack was reported at Staton Correctional Facility.
“Inmate Williams was found unresponsive in his dorm and taken to the health center. Medical personnel treated Williams and monitored his condition.
“It was decided to transfer him to an area hospital for further assessment and treatment. He remained in the hospital until the family decided to take him off life support.
“He was transported to Kilby Correctional Facility for long-term care where he subsequently died.” The ADOC Law Enforcement Services Division is investigating the incident.
The Staton Correctional Facility, where Williams was held, has a colorful history.
This follows ongoing federal investigations into prison violence in Alabama. In 2019, the Justice Department released a report alleging that prison conditions violated inmates’ civil rights.
The report alleged that the state failed to take sufficient measures to prevent violence against inmates and sexual abuse, failed to protect them from excessive force by staff, and failed to provide safe prison conditions.
The DOJ sued Alabama in 2020 over its “unsafe” prison conditions.
According to the lawsuit, Alabama violated the 8th and 14th Amendments by failing to prevent violence and sexual abuse between prisoners.
They also allegedly failed to protect detainees from the use of excessive force by security personnel and failed to ensure safe physical detention conditions.
As part of the lawsuit, they inspected Alabama’s 13 men’s prisons for 24 days and arranged interviews with 1,000 inmates.
The Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of inmates, has branded Williams’ death “tragic” and “preventable,” claiming that cases like this “are all too common in Alabama’s prisons.” .
The EJI also argues that in “many cases” medical emergencies are dismissed by prison staff as “drunkenness” or the inmates’ “fault.” The advocacy group claims that deaths often could have been prevented if the person had received “timely treatment.”
In February of this year, the family of an inmate filed a scathing lawsuit alleging he froze to death at the Walker County Jail in Alabama after being held naked in a concrete cell and was also believed to have been put in a freezer or a freezer brought to another cold environment.
Anthony Don Mitchell, 33, arrived at a hospital emergency room with a body temperature of 72 degrees – well below the body average of 98.6 degrees.
An emergency room doctor who unsuccessfully tried to resuscitate Mitchell wrote: “I believe that hypothermia was the ultimate cause of death,” according to the lawsuit filed in federal court by Mitchell’s mother.
A prison video shows Mitchell, who was mentally ill, being held naked in an isolation cell with a concrete floor, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit speculated that Mitchell was also placed in the prison kitchen’s “walk-in freezer or similar cold environment” and left there for hours because his body temperature was so low.
On the other end of the spectrum, another federal lawsuit was filed in December 2022 by the family of a deceased Alabama inmate who they claim died after being “baked” in his prison cell.
Thomas Lee Rutledge, 44, died of hyperthermia on December 7, 2020, in the psychiatric ward at the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility in Bessemer, Alabama.
Rutledge was unresponsive with a body temperature of 109 degrees in a cell that was reportedly between 101 and 104 degrees, the lawsuit said.
The lawsuit accused prison staff, supervisors and contractors of “deliberate indifference and malice” in his death.