'We cried and laughed': Victim's family reunites inmate with his daughter ahead of Arkansas execution
On Thursday night, the state of Arkansas executed Kenneth Williams, a man who has confessed to killing four people.
Over the past week, Arkansas has been rushing to execute condemned men before its supply of a lethal injection drug expires at the end of April. Williams was the fourth to be executed.
Williams was on death row for killing a man named Cecil Boren in 1999. At the time, he was already serving a life sentence for killing Dominique Hurd, an 18-year-old cheerleader, when he escaped prison. During his escape, he killed truck driver Michael Greenwood.
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Before Williams' death on Thursday, his daughter Jasmine wanted to see her father one last time. She set up a crowdfunding page to raise money to fly to Arkansas. When Greenwood's family heard about this, they paid for Jasmine's flight themselves.
Kayla Greenwood, Michael Greenwood's daughter, spoke to As It Happens host Carol Off, about why the family did this.
Carol Off: Kayla, what made you reach out to Jasmine Williams in the first place?
Kayla Greenwood: If I could see my dad one last time or have my children meet him, I would want that more that anything. Knowing that I could possibly do that for her, it was just was very rewarding to myself to see something so beautiful and give somebody else something they've been wishing for and trying so hard for.
CO: How did Jasmine Williams respond when you reached out to her?
KG: She was very shocked and just couldn't believe that we even wanted to talk to her. She just felt like she needed to apologize for her father's actions. So, it was good. We cried and laughed.
CO: What did your family do to help her?
KG: My mom and my stepfather, that I consider my dad because he raised me since I was 11, they were the ones that paid for it. They were the ones who drove us down there, picked her up and took her to the prison. So really, they made all of this possible.
CO: You wrote a letter to the governor of Arkansas, who was the one who had demanded that these executions take place this month. What arguments did you give the governor on why he shouldn't do this?
KG: I thought that he could change people that had came in there. The corrections officers and his legal team, they all said that everybody [Kenneth Williams] came in contact with, he was trying to counsel, guide and be that ear and voice of what's right.
[They] really felt that he had changed and given his life to Jesus. He was on a very good path and he was proud of connecting with people.
I felt that by sparing his life, I felt that it could benefit to have him change people and connect with people who come in so that they wouldn't come out worse than when they came in.
I also wanted Jasmine to be able to pick up the phone, call her dad and come down and visit and have her daughter be a part of his life. I wanted her to have that parent because she had lost her mother when she was 12.
CO: Kenneth Williams was on death row for first of all killing a man named Cecil Boren. The family of that other man wanted to see that execution take place. Did you have any contact with that family?
KG: No, I haven't had any contact with them ever.
I hope that somehow we can bring an end to the death penalty. Because through this process, it just makes me really realize that it is revenge and not closure or justice.- Kayla Greenwood
CO: What would you say to them if you did have contact?
KG: I would just say that I'm so sorry for their loss and that I truly understand what it feels like. It just hurts me that they haven't found closure or peace.
His daughter had wrote in an article that I saw and said that after the execution, it didn't bring her family closure but they were glad it was over with. It just hurts to know that they're still so hurt. I would just say that I'm sorry and that if they would ever like to talk, of course I would love to talk to them.
CO: What do you hope will come of your efforts to try and reach out to the Williams family?
KG: I hope that everybody involved gets peace and closure. And, I hope that somehow we can bring an end to the death penalty. Because through this process, it just makes me really realize that it is revenge and not closure or justice.
This has been edited for length and clarity. For more, listen to our full interview with Kayla Greenwood.