I choked up, my voice cracked as I said, “Goodbye dear friend” as he passed by.
My close friend was three days away from being executed. He had been taken from East Block “Death Row” where we lived, to a holding cell beside the execution chamber. We arranged a legal visit, both of us locked in plexi-glass booths two days before his scheduled execution.
He was in a booth locked in with one of his lawyers who was updating him on legal matters being taken in a last ditch attempt to delay or avoid his meeting with the executioner. I was in a booth across the aisle from him locked in with my spiritual advisor. The same person who would stay with Danny through his last night on death watch.
I looked at Danny across the way. He was at peace with his fate, ready for it all to be over. I mouthed, “I love you, bro” across the space. He touched his heart in return, showing his love. We had bonded like the condemned can during our 16 years on Death Row together and we became like brothers. He had made peace with his maker and was ready to go.
The guards from the death watch came for him. I stood up in my little booth to wish him well as he passed. By the time the guards had him chained and cuffed for the walk back to death watch cell the tears in my eyes welled and flowed down my cheeks…I choked up, my voice cracked as I said, “Goodbye dear friend” as he passed by. Two days later, the state of California executed Keith Daniel Williams- my friend and a human being. Tears well in my eyes today, November 29, 2024, with the thought of him as a human of San Quentin.
