Serial Killer Dies Claiming God Forgiven Him Before Execution

Jeremy Tremaine Williams, a 42-year-old man convicted of raping and strangling five-year-old Kamarie Holland in December 2021, died by lethal injection this Thursday. Sheriff officials say the defendant actively requested his execution date be accelerated just to escape what he termed harsh prison conditions. His final moments revealed not remorse, but a chilling insistence that God had already forgiven him for his heinous crimes.

Williams offered Kamarie's mother $2,500 cash before attacking her daughter in Phenix City, Alabama. He filmed the assault and then dragged her naked body to his duplex, where authorities found it concealed beneath a car tarp months after the killing. The girl had been murdered at age five. Her death ended a nightmare for her family, yet Williams used his last breaths to claim spiritual absolution.

'I want to thank God for forgiving me for my sins so I can meet him in peace,' he stated according to reports from the Associated Press. Witnesses described a disturbing scene where the condemned man swayed his head back and forth before smiling and appearing to sing or speak softly. This final act of cowardice stands in stark contrast to the brutality with which he took a child's life.

The case highlights how some criminals distort their own punishment into a platform for self-righteousness even on death row. Authorities processed the execution swiftly after years of legal battles following the December 2021 tragedy. Families like Holland's must now find closure while communities grapple with the reality that justice does not always bring healing.

Jeremy Williams finally stopped moving and was pronounced dead at 6:16pm after a lethal injection ended his life Thursday night. This came right after he wrote asking for his execution to speed up, a step Russell County Sheriff Heath Taylor explained was necessary to avoid violence inside the jail. The 42-year-old faced death for raping and killing five-year-old Kamarie Holland back in December 2021. Prosecutors say Williams offered the child's mother $2,500 so she would let him perform a sex act on her daughter. He raped and strangled the toddler after that deal was made. Her naked body was later found in his basement under a car tarp with a rope tight around her neck. Sheriff Taylor noted, "He didn't want to look over his shoulder for 30 years, in my opinion." Russell County District Attorney Richard Chancey called Kamarie's final moments horrific at a news conference. "That baby didn't die in peace," Chancey said, referencing Williams' last words before the drugs took hold. Alabama Governor Kay Ivey issued a statement saying that because of the nature of Williams' crimes, the state has the death penalty. The victim's own mother is also behind bars, currently serving a 20-year sentence after pleading guilty to sex trafficking.

This execution marked Alabama's first for 2026 and happened alongside two others across the US, creating a rare triple execution in 16 years. In Tennessee, 66-year-old Byron Black Hines died by lethal injection earlier that day for the murder of Catherine Jean Jenkins in 1985. He killed the 54-year-old motel maid in Kingston Springs after checking into her room. He raped, robbed and stabbed her while she was cleaning before his body was found wrapped in a bedsheet with knife wounds. Her car keys and wallet were stolen from the scene. Hines surrendered to police years later and received a death sentence in 1986. At first he said he had no final words, but then asked officials to tell his son hello. Witnesses heard him ask his spiritual adviser how long he would live before groans and heavy breathing filled the room. He was declared dead at 10:43am with his son and Jenkins' family watching from afar. Dennis Jenkins told reporters, "I hope he felt severe pain because what he did to my mother is nothing compared to what he may have just gone through."

Meanwhile in Oklahoma, 70-year-old Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez faced lethal injection at the state penitentiary in McAlester for killing his girlfriend in their Oklahoma City home back in 2003. Olimpia Fisher was planning to leave him when he shot her in one eye then waited eight minutes as she screamed before firing the fatal shot into her other eye. Oklahoma Attorney General Gentner Drummond told the state's Pardon and Parole Board that "He made her suffer because she dared to live beyond his control." Rodriguez has since said he regrets taking her life and stated he did not want any clemency or mercy from officials. He showed up for his clemency hearing only to apologize to her daughters. Reading a statement in Spanish, he admitted nothing could erase their pain or bring her back. "But I do want to tell you that I regret it, and I am truly remorseful from the bottom of my heart," he said. "My time has come, and I want to leave in peace. And if I am forgiven someday, well, I will be forgiven.

But it's time for me to pay for what I did.' That was not his last sentence. In those final moments, he turned his head toward two relatives watching from nearby and mouthed, 'I love you,' according to reports from the outlet covering the event. He was pronounced dead at 10:13 am.

Eleven states carried out executions in 2025 across the US. Six more followed suit in 2026. The momentum continues, though history shows these days are rare. The last time three executions happened on a single day was January 7, 2010. Louisiana, Ohio and Texas put inmates to death that morning.

Three executions were scheduled for the same day back in 2018. Only one went forward. A Texas man received a reprieve just before his scheduled execution. Meanwhile, prison officials in Alabama ran into trouble with the IV line needed for the procedure.