Statement of Rodney Blair at February 18, 2002 press conference.

Before I make any statements I would like to offer my sincere apologies to the family and friends of Aleta Bunch.

My name is Rodney Blair and I am the younger brother of Alex Williams. I am a Networking Support Specialist for a national corporation, and a married father of three.

On my brother's behalf I would like to say that there are many circumstances surrounding this awful act that lead me to believe that his life should be spared.

My brother was seventeen years old at the time of the offense and was currently living in an abusive household along with myself and other siblings. Alex was subject to the most demoralizing and severe abuse in our family. There were numerous occasions when Alex was not only kicked out of the house but also forced to leave naked. We were restricted to our beds with only one meal a day and were only allowed to get up to go to school or to use the bathroom. During this punishment, which spanned from days to weeks, even using the bathroom was monitored so that this "privilege" was not abused. We would get so hungry and thirsty that when we got out of bed to eat or go to school we would be so weak and dizzy that it would be hard to walk. We literally had to sneak a drink of water out of the bathroom faucet when we were allowed to use the bathroom.

I especially remember a particular punishment that Alex received which involved his toes being beaten with a hammer and a screwdriver.

Often times, because we were all subject to the same types of abuse, when one of us did something wrong Alex would try to protect his younger siblings by taking the blame and our punishment. I think Alex felt responsible for us, and took the blame for things we did when he thought it would help, even though it meant he would be punished

In this abusive and stressful environment, Alex was beginning to show signs of his mental illness as a teenager. As kids we used the word "crazy" loosely, and we didn't know what mental illness was. But we knew that something was wrong with Alex when he told us that the lights were talking to him, and when he talked to the trees. We even noticed that he accepted his abuse and punishment with a total resignation, like he wasn't all there.

We the siblings of Alexander Williams were not contacted for information concerning the state of our household affairs when the jury was deciding on sentencing him to death. I became deeply disturbed after reading that five jurors would reverse their decisions if given the opportunity after having seen the type of circumstances in which Alex was raised.

If we couple the bearing of this physical and mental abuse with a lack of adequate legal representation and a severe mental illness that he is and was suffering with prior to the offense, it becomes clear that there were several mitigating circumstances surrounding this terrible crime.

It is for these reasons that I am pleading for Alex's life. I would like for the Georgia Board of Pardons and Parole to commute Alex's sentence from execution to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Rodney Blair