Kenneth Williams (serial killer)

On April 27, 2017, Williams was executed by lethal injection at the Cummins Unit. He was the last of four men executed in Arkansas that year. The others were Ledell Lee, Jack Harold Jones, and Marcel Williams. Kenneth Williams' last meal consisted of two pieces of fried chicken with a side of sweet rice, BBQ pinto beans, a slice of bread, a peanut butter cookie, and a cinnamon roll.

Williams also confessed to another murder committed on the same day he killed Hurd. He had robbed 36-year-old Jerrell Jenkins and shot him twice in the chest with a .357 caliber handgun. His body was discovered in a ditch by a child going to school. In December 2005, Williams pleaded guilty to capital murder, aggravated robbery, and theft of property for killing Jenkins and received another life sentence.

Williams was not prosecuted for killing Greenwood but faced charges for killing Boren. On August 29, 2000, Williams was convicted of theft of property and capital murder, with the underlying felonies of aggravated robbery and first degree escape. He was sentenced to death the following day. In May 2005, Williams wrote a letter to the Pine Bluff Commercial, apologizing for his crimes and saying he had found God.

On October 3, 1999, less than a month after he was sentenced to life in prison, Williams escaped by going into the kitchen and hiding inside a 500-gallon barrel of pig slop that was taken out by a truck. After the truck drove out of the prison, Williams jumped out and hid in a ditch. After hiding there for some time, he got out and ran to the highway, heading northwest. He eventually came across the home of 57-year-old Cecil Boren, a farmer and retired prison warden. Cecil was in his yard while his wife, Genie Boren, was at church. Williams stole one of Cecil's guns, a .22 caliber Ruger pistol. As Cecil walked inside, Williams shot him in the chest, then shot him six more times as he tried to flee, including once in the head. Williams then dragged his body inside, stole his wallet, some of his jewelry, several more of his guns, and other valuables. He then dressed himself in some of Cecil's clothes before taking his truck and driving north to Missouri.

In 1996, Williams was sentenced to five years in prison for first degree escape and second degree battery. He was released from prison on April 2, 1998.

On December 13, 1998, Williams, then 19, abducted University of Arkansas pre-med student Dominique "Nikki" Hurd, 19, and her boyfriend, Peter Robertson, from a parking lot in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. Robertson later said he and Hurd had been taking photos with each other when Williams showed up and offered to take a photo of them together. Williams pulled out a revolver and ordered the couple into their car, before robbing them of their money, jewelry, and credit cards. He then forced Robertson to drive him to an ATM and withdraw additional cash.

On December 18, 1998, Williams was charged with one count of capital murder, one count of attempted capital murder, two counts of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated robbery, two counts of theft of property, and one count of arson. He was convicted of all of the charges. Prosecutors sought a death sentence for Williams, but the jury gave him a life sentence. After learning that he had been spared execution, Williams taunted Hurd's family, saying "You thought I was going to die, didn't you?" Williams was sent to the Cummins Unit to serve out his life sentence.

Kenneth Dewayne Williams (February 23, 1979 – April 27, 2017) was an American serial killer who killed four people in Arkansas and Missouri. Originally sentenced to life without parole in Arkansas for killing a cheerleader in 1998, Williams escaped from prison in a 500-gallon barrel of pig slop in 1999. He then shot and killed another man and stole his truck several miles away from the prison, before unintentionally killing another man in a police chase in Missouri. Williams was convicted of the murder he committed shortly after escaping prison and was sentenced to death. In 2005, he confessed to committing another murder in 1998. Williams became the last of four inmates executed in Arkansas in April 2017.