Williams executed for '91 massacre

Family members of the victims were dismayed that Williams didn't apologize.
By JEFF ORTEGA
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
LUCASVILLE -- Willie Williams expressed love for his family Tuesday before being executed by lethal injection for the slayings of four men in Youngstown in 1991 in a crime that became known as the "Labor Day Massacre."
Clad in dark blue pants with a red stripe down the legs and a white short-sleeved shirt, the 48-year-old Williams, who was known as "Flip," calmly entered the Death House at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility shortly after 10 a.m., laid on a table and looked at family members sitting behind a window nearby.
Williams used his final statement to recognize his family.
"I don't want to waste no time talking about my lifestyle, my case, my punishment," Williams said into a microphone held by Warden Edwin Voorhies.
"Mom, you've been there from the beginning and I love you," Williams said, referring to his mother, Joyce Williams.
Williams said he loved his other family members.
"Y'all stick together," Williams said. "Don't worry about me, I'm OK. This ain't nothing, I'll be OK. That's it," Williams said before the deadly drugs flowed into his veins.
The death process
First, prison officials say, sodium pentothal is injected to render the inmate unconscious; then, pancuronium bromide is injected to stop the inmate's breathing; and finally, potassium chloride is injected to stop the inmate's heart.
After Williams delivered his statement, he looked at family members -- identified by prison officials as Jesse Williams, his brother; Jameka Williams, Williams' daughter; and Michael Davis, an uncle.
Soft whispering, thought by some observers to be a prayer or chant, could be heard among Williams' family. Jameka Williams, at one point, was hugged by Jesse Williams and Davis.
A couple of minutes later, Willie Williams' eyes fluttered. Shortly after that, his eyes closed. Prison officials pronounced him dead at 10:20 a.m.
Williams' family declined to speak to reporters after the execution.
Lack of remorse
But some family members of the men Williams was convicted of killing -- William "Lamont" Dent, Alfonda "Al" R. Madison, Sr., Eric Howard and Theodore "Teddy" Wynn Jr. -- said they were disappointed Williams didn't finally take responsibility for the killings.
"I was disappointed he did not apologize," said Tawanna Madison, sister of Alfonda Madison and one of the victims' family members who viewed Williams' execution.
Donna Wynn, the late Wynn's mother, said she, too, was disappointed Williams didn't address the 1991 slayings.
"He showed no remorse," Wynn said of Williams after viewing the execution.
"At least we can go on knowing justice has been served," she said.
Williams, who arrived at the SOCF Monday morning from the Mansfield Correctional Institution, where he had been held, stayed up most of the evening leading up to his execution, prison officials reported.
Williams, who met with family members Monday and early Tuesday, declined food and took only water and coffee in the hours leading up to his execution, prison officials said.
The tragic events
Williams, who authorities said used to control a major drug-trafficking operation on Youngstown's North and East sides, was convicted in the killings of Dent, Madison and Howard as part of what authorities say was a drug-related dispute. Williams was also convicted of killing Wynn, who authorities say was an acquaintance of one of the other victims.
The four were found dead in a Youngstown home in September 1991. Authorities said Williams was attempting to resume control of the drug trade when the killings occurred.
Alicia Ennis, the mother of a child of Dent's, disputed the suggestions by law enforcement officials that Williams' victims might have been involved in the drug trade.
Three teen accomplices aided Williams in the attack, investigators said. Each victim was killed execution-style, with gunshots to the head, according to investigators.
After Williams' capture, Williams and other prisoners broke out of the Mahoning County Jail, court records say.
After months on the run, Williams surrendered to authorities in early 1992 after he and other accomplices armed with guns and explosives invaded the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center, court records say.
At the time, the juvenile justice center held the three teen accomplices who were to testify against Williams in the four slayings, investigators and court records say.
In August 1993, a jury convicted Williams on multiple charges including aggravated murder and sentenced him to death.