Alabama prisoner days from freedom dies after beating left him brain dead, family says

A 22-year-old Alabama man incarcerated at Staton Correctional Facility died last week after a days-long beating left him brain dead 14 days before he was supposed to be released, according to a post on GoFundMe.

Daniel Terry Williams was serving a 12-month sentence for second degree theft when the attack occurred. The post on GoFundMe said he was beaten, tortured and sexually assaulted.

“On Sunday, October 22, 2023, a possible inmate-on-inmate assault was reported at Staton Correctional Facility,” according to a statement from the Alabama Department of Corrections. “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.”

The family removed life support on Nov. 5 after doctors said Williams was brain dead. He was transferred to the medical unit at Kilby Correctional Facility a few days later and died on Nov. 9.

The GoFundMe is seeking assistance for funeral expenses for Williams’ family.

Federal authorities have been investigating violence in Alabama prisons since 2019, when the U.S. Department of Justice issued a report saying the conditions violated the civil rights of inmates.

The department sued in 2020. The state does not do enough to prevent prison-on-prisoner violence and sexual assault, according to the report.

Prisons in Alabama have struggled with low staffing and officials have said they need new facilities to address the violence. Gov. Kay Ivey and other leaders have proposed building a 4,000-bed prison that could cost more than $1 billion.

Advocates for prisoners have said the state needs to release more inmates before building a mega-prison. According to the most recent report, the Alabama Department of Corrections has almost 20,000 people in facilities built for about 12,000. There were 1,897 total assaults in the first eight months of the year.

Leaders of the Equal Justice Initiative, a Montgomery-based nonprofit that advocates on behalf of inmates, said the state could do more to prevent prisoner deaths.

“Deaths like that of Mr. Williams are tragic, preventable, and happen all too frequently in Alabama’s prisons,” said EJI Director Bryan Stevenson.

“EJI receives reports from medical care providers, family members, and other incarcerated witnesses every month, about prisoners whose medical emergencies are dismissed by untrained officers as intoxication or somehow their own fault. In many of these cases, had the person been treated in time, they would have survived.”

Updated at 10:23 a.m. with additional information from the Alabama Department of Corrections.