The sister of an Alabama inmate who died after allegedly being bound, raped, and beaten in prison has made a heartbreaking tribute to her beloved brother.
Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama when a warden found him unresponsive in his dorm on October 22.
While the prison said he died of a drug overdose, his family were told that dad-of-two Williams was ‘kidnapped, bound, assaulted and sold out’ by another inmate for ‘two or three days’ and was covered in wounds.
Williams was declared brain dead upon his hospital arrival and was provided palliative care. He was taken off life support on November 5 and died four days later.
His devastated sister Brittany has chronicled how she held his hand, nursed him, and watched her bruised-and-bloodied brother gasp for air as he fought for his life.
She said: ‘I’d take your place instantly, so you could have more time with your kids.’
ADOC Law Enforcement Services Division, who are investigating the incident, have not apprehended anyone for Williams’ death.
Daniel Williams, 22, with his sister Brittany Robinson. She said in a statement following his death: ‘Oh Daniel, this s**t hurts so hard, I’m really really sorry…it’s not fair…please be at peace now’
Williams (pictured) was declared brain dead upon his hospital arrival and was provided palliative care. He was taken off life support on November 5 and died four days later
Daniel’s heartbroken sister Brittany Robinson said in a statement: ‘I’d take your place instantly, so you could have more time with your kids. I so would Daniel.
‘This sissy is extremely exhausted and lost without her Daniel calling her…saying look what your niece done learned how to talk about already.
‘This sister held your hand for three days straight, this sister wiped your drool, wiped cold rags on you so you’re body could cool off in that hospital room.
‘This sister told the nurses to clean you extra because you needed it, this sister made sure you were taken care of when I could.
‘This sister watched you gasp for air, shake to try and breathe, this sister looked at your bruise body and bit her tongue from cussing the guard out at the prison cause she knew they’d stop me from seeing you…
‘I told you I loved you, I talked to you even though I knew you couldn’t response…I told you I love you, and I needed you to know we are okay.
‘Oh Daniel, this s**t hurts so hard, I’m really really sorry…it’s not fair…please be at peace now.’
At least 12 prison cops at Staton Correctional Facility – along with adjoining Elmore and Draper prisons – have been arrested for assaulting inmates in the last two years.
Federal investigators have also been probing the state of Alabama and its prisons since a scathing lawsuit was lodged by the Department of Justice in 2019.
On October 15, just weeks before his death, Williams wrote on his Facebook page: ‘How every body doing.
‘I ain’t got to much longer left, pray for me, I’m coming home better then I was before, drug free. It’s been a crazy ride, 3 different prisons now. It’s almost over.’
It’s unclear how he was able to access the internet while in prison.
Brittany Robinson and her brother Daniel. who died after the alleged assault in prison
Daniel Williams and his fiancee, Amber. His family said that they weren’t able to raise enough money to bury Daniel. Instead, he will be cremated.
Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama when a warden found him unresponsive in his dorm on October 22. Williams was declared brain dead upon his hospital arrival and was provided palliative care. He was taken off life support on November 5 and died four days later
Amber Williams, Daniel’s fiancée told WVTM: ‘I went to the hospital and the nurses told me that he was assaulted and beaten really badly. And when I went into the room, had bruises all down his arm, like down to his fingers, he had bruises over here. He had cuts up and down and bruises on his legs. And it was bad.’
Speaking of their child together, Amber added: ‘How am I supposed to tell her about her daddy? Like, why isn’t he here? Why didn’t he ever come home?’
Despite his criminal record, Amber said he was a ‘good father.’
The prisoner’s father Terry Williams and step-mother Taylor Bostic also allege that their son’s body showed signs of physical abuse, including that ‘his hands were bound’.
The couple claims Williams’ doctor described the alleged abuse as unlike anything he had ever seen throughout his 30-year medical career.
Terry Williams, his father, also said that he wasn’t able to raise enough money to bury his son. Instead, he will be cremated.
He wrote on social media: ‘I will let everyone know date and time once they tell me. Thanks everyone I really appreciate everything.
‘Daniel Terry Williams fly high son, keep mom and granny company justice will be served. I love you son, till we meet again.’
His mother Tammy wrote online: ‘My world my everything is gone why why why I promise you son I will take everything in my power to get justice for you.
Daniel Williams, 22, was serving a 12-month sentence for second-degree theft at Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama
He is pictured with his fiancee, Amber Williams. She visited him in hospital while he was brain dead, and said that he was covered in bruises from being assaulted
‘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 everyday to please watch out for your daughter I promise you son I will be here for the both of them.
‘Your lovely beautiful daughter, you’re beautiful wife, and I’ll do everything I can I’m here for you son, I’m here for your daughter, I’m here for your wife.
‘Everyday I talk to you to please just keep an eye on them don’t let nothing happen to them, I promise you I would and I still will. I love you Daniel you’re 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 real soon, I love you to the moon and back.’
The Alabama Department of Corrections said in a statement: ‘On Thursday, November 9, 2023, an inmate death was reported at Kilby Correctional Facility.
‘Inmate Daniel Terry Williams was found unresponsive in the Health Care Unit. Medical staff attempted to revive him, but they were unable to resuscitate him, and he was pronounced deceased by the attending physician.
‘On Sunday, October 22, 2023, a possible inmate-on-inmate assault was reported at Staton Correctional Facility.
‘Inmate Williams was discovered unresponsive in his dorm and was transported to the Health Care Unit. Medical personnel treated Williams and monitored his condition.
‘The decision was made to transfer him to an area hospital for further evaluation and treatment. He remained at the hospital until the family decided to remove him from life support.
‘He was transported to Kilby Correctional Facility for long-term comfort care where he subsequently died. The ADOC Law Enforcement Services Division is investigating the incident.’
Staton Correctional Facility – where Williams was being held – has a fraught history.
In August 2023, Correctional Sergeant Devlon Williams was found guilty of assaulting a defenseless prisoner at Staton Correctional Facility in 2018.
He repeatedly punched and kicked an incarcerated man in the main hallway at Staton and struck him with a collapsible baton, a lawsuit stated.
His family was not notified of his hospitalization until three days later, on October 25. They then visited him at the facility and observed bruises and injuries indicative of assault on his body. Williams is pictured with his child
Pictured: Staton Correctional Facility in Elmore, Alabama. The prison complex has a fraught history
At least 12 officers have been arrested, prosecuted, or convicted for assaulting inmates within the Elmore, Staton, Draper prison complex in the last 24 months
Sergeant Williams was just one of 12 officers who have been arrested, prosecuted, or convicted for assaulting inmates within the Elmore, Staton, Draper prison complex in the last 24 months.
In July 2023, Sergeant D’Marcus Sanders was charged with murder after inmate Rubyn Murray was killed at Elmore Correctional Facility – which adjoins Staton.
Murray was allegedly taken to a holding cell at the back of the prison and was beaten up. Officers were allegedly told to ignore his pleas for help – and he died at Jackson Hospital later that day.
And in October 2023, correctional officer Laneitria Hasberry, 29, was arrested for bringing 170g of marijuana into Staton Correctional Facility in Alabama and selling it onto inmates for $1,000.
Hasberry, 29, was charged with promoting prison contraband and using her official position for personal gain.
Three days later, inmate Timothy Walden died from a suspected drug overdose at Staton Correctional Center. A video showed him hunched over and and unconscious on the toilet before he was found.
And at another Alabama prison, in the same week, jailed Charles Harris died from a suspected drug overdose – just 11 days before his release date.
This follows ongoing federal investigations into the violence in Alabama prisons. In 2019, the Department of Justice released a report alleging prison conditions violated inmate’s civil rights.
The report alleged that the state did not take enough measures to prevent inmate-on-inmate violence and sexual abuse, failure to protect them from excessive force by staff, and failure to provide safe conditions of confinement.
The DOJ sued Alabama for its ‘unsafe’ prison conditions in 2020.
According to the lawsuit, Alabama violated the 8th and 14th amendments by failing to prevent prisoner-on-prisoner violence and sexual abuse.
They also allegedly failed to protect prisoners from the use of excessive force by security staff, and by failing to provide safe physical conditions of confinement.
As part of the lawsuit, they inspected Alabama’s 13 men’s prisons over 24 days and arranged interviews with 1,000 inmates.