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Arkansas Executes 4th Inmate In 8 Days

Media witnesses Donna Terrell of Fox 16, Kelly Kissel of Associated Press, and Knowles Adkisson of the Pine Bluff Commercial.
Credit Sarah Whites-Koditschek / Arkansas Public Media
Media witnesses Donna Terrell of Fox 16, Kelly Kissel of Associated Press, and Knowles Adkisson of the Pine Bluff Commercial.

Arkansas has carried out its final execution for the month of April.

Eight death row inmates were scheduled to die in less than two weeks in Arkansas in four double executions. Ultimately, four inmates were executed, including one double execution.

Death row inmate Kenneth Williams, 38, was pronounced dead at 11:05 p.m.  The lethal injection began at 10:52 p.m.

ADC spokesman Solomon Graves receiving a telephone update about the execution process.
Credit Sarah Whites-Koditschek / Arkansas Public Media
/
Arkansas Public Media
ADC spokesman Solomon Graves receiving a telephone update about the execution process.

Williams' execution, which had been scheduled for 7 p.m., was on hold while the U.S. Supreme Court reviewed legal challenges. It ultimately denied all claims.

A prison spokesman said Williams shook for approximately 10 seconds about three minutes into the lethal injection.

However, Kelly 

Associated Press Arkansas Editor Kelly Kissel describing Williams' reaction to the midazolam.
Credit Sarah Whites-Koditschek / Arkansas Public Media
/
Arkansas Public Media
Associated Press Arkansas Editor Kelly Kissel describing Williams' reaction to the midazolam.

Kissel of the Associated Press says Williams was, "coughing, convulsing, lurching, jerking" for more than 20 seconds with sound audible through glass, even with the microphone turned off. The state turns off the microphone in the death chamber after the inmate is allowed to make a final statement, so witnesses can not hear the execution through it.

A spokesman for the governor said the shaking is a "known involuntary muscular reaction" to midazolam, the controversial sedative given as the first drug in the lethal injection process. Concerns over midazolam have focused on whether the drug, which is used in minor surgical procedures, can adequately render an inmate unconscious.

ADC staff listen as media witnesses describe what they saw during the execution.
Credit Sarah Whites-Koditschek / Arkansas Public Media
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Arkansas Public Media
ADC staff listen as media witnesses describe what they saw during the execution.

Midazolam has been linked to botched executions where the inmate wakes up while receiving the subsequent two drugs including potassium choloride, which is known for being excruciatingly painful and is often referred to as "liquid fire" by members of the medical community. Justice Sonia Sotomayor called it "the chemical equivalent of being burned at the stake."

But the governor's office once again praised the Arkansas Department of Correction, saying it carried out the executions smoothly. The victim's family echoed that sentiment, and thanked the governor and the Department for "flawlessly carrying out" the execution.

In his final statement from the death chamber, Williams said, "I extend my sincerest of apologies to the families I have senselessly wronged and deprived of their loved ones... I was more than wrong. The crimes I perpetrated against you all was senseless, extremely hurtful and inexcusable."

Jodie Efird and Holly King, daughters of one of Williams' victims, Cecil Boren, speaking to the media after the execution.
Credit Sarah Whites-Koditschek / Arkansas Public Media
/
Arkansas Public Media
Jodie Efird and Holly King, daughters of one of Williams' victims, Cecil Boren, speaking to the media after the execution.

Williams was convicted of the 1998 killing of a 19-year-old University of Pine Bluff cheerleader, Dominique Heard, for which he was sentenced to life imprisonment. While interned at the Arkansas Department Correction's Cummins Unit, he escaped on a prison vehicle's hog slop container.

Death row inmate Kenneth Williams
Death row inmate Kenneth Williams

During his escape, Williams killed a nearby resident, Cecil Boren, who happened to be a former assistant warden in the prison system.

His daughters thanked Governor Asa Hutchinson and the ADC after his execution.

"We feel justice has been served," Holly King, Boren's daughter, told the press.

"Its not closure," said her sister, Jodie Efird, "It's just that we don't have to endure this anymore."

Williams stole Boren's vehicle and drove across the state line into southern Missouri, where he led law enforcement officers in a high speed chase, which resulted in a collision that led to the death of another motorist.

Williams was convicted and sentenced to death in the capital murder of Boren.

His attorneys argued he was at high risk for a painful death from the three-drug lethal injection cocktail due to sickle cell trait, Lupus and organic brain damage. 

They also said Williams has a low I.Q. of 70 and should not be eligible for the death penalty.

Department of Correction spokesman Soloman Graves said Williams' last dinner consisted of two pieces of fried chicken, sweet rice, barbecue beans, a kernel of corn, stewed seasoned tomatoes, and four slices of bread.

The media witnesses for the execution were Knowles Adkisson of the Pine Bluff Commercial, Donna Terrell of KLRT Fox 16, and Kelly Kissel of the Associated Press.

Williams' Final Statement:

"I humbly extend my sincerest of apologies to the families I senselessly wronged and deprived of their loved ones. The families of: Dominique Hurd, Jerell Jenkins, Cecil Boren, Michael Greenwood. I was more than wrong. The crimes I perpeturated against you all was senseless, extremely hurtful, and inexcusable. I humbly beg your forgiveness, and pray you find the peace, healing, and closure you all deserve."

"To Kayla Greenwood and the whole Greenwood family, the acts of grace, forgiveness and mercy you demonstrated toward the person who had taken so much from you, by bringing to me in prison my own baby and grandchild, right be fore my scheduled execution. No rapist, murderer, terrorist, butcher, barbarian; no even old Beelzebub himself; could withstand such a blast of glorious Light and continue too walk in darkness."

Followed by:

"I am not the same person I was. I've been transformed. Some things can't be undone. I seek forgiveness. The next words will be spoke in my native tounges" (Williams went on to speak in tounges).

Governor and Attorney General Release Statements

"The long path of justice ended tonight and Arkansans can reflect on the last two weeks with confidence that our system of laws in this state has worked," said Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson in a statement he released shortly after tonight's execution, the last lethal injection scheduled for this month.

Meanwhile, Arkansas Attorney General Leslie Rutledge said, "Tonight the rule of law was upheld as the family of Cecil Boren saw justice done. On October 3, 1999, Cecil was simply going about his daily life at his home near the Cummins Prison Unit when he was shot and killed by an escapee who was serving life imprisonment without parole for capital murder. I pray this lawful execution will bring closure and peace to the Boren family."

Cummins Unit prison in Grady, Arkansas
Chris Hickey /
Cummins Unit prison in Grady, Arkansas

Copyright 2017 KUAR

Chris Hickey was born and raised in Houston, Texas, spending his teenage years in Camden, Ohio. He graduated from Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas, majoring in English. He got his start in public radio working as a board operator at WMUB in Oxford, Ohio during his summer and winter breaks from school. Since graduating, he has made Little Rock home. He joined KUAR in September 2011 as a production intern and has since enjoyed producing, anchoring and reporting for the station. He is the composer of KUAR's Week-In-Review Podcast theme music and the associate producer of Arts & Letters.
As Content Development Director, Karen Tricot Steward oversees the creation of news and cultural programming and helps set standards and best practices. She manages content on our website and social media. Karen also coordinates the internship program and collaborates with journalism professors at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock to teach students, helping fulfill public radio’s goal of serving the community by being a place of learning.
Sarah Whites-Koditschek
Sarah Whites-Koditschek is a Little Rock-based reporter for Arkansas Public Media covering education, healthcare, state politics, and criminal justice issues. Formerly she worked as a reporter and producer for WHYY in Philadelphia, and was an intern and editorial assistant for Morning Edition at National Public Radio in Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
Ann Kenda joined Arkansas Public Media in January 2017 from Sudbury, Massachusetts. She is a graduate of Syracuse University and previously worked in public radio, commercial radio and newspaper in Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She focuses on health, justice, education and energy as part of the Arkansas Public Media team. Her stories can be found on the airwaves, ArkansasPublicMedia.org and social media.