In the winter of 1998, a promising young woman named Dominique Nicole 'Nikki' Hurd, a 19-year-old female, had her life tragically cut short in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. A vibrant and intelligent student at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, where she was a cheerleader and a member of the gospel choir, Dominique was originally from Fort Worth, Texas.
She was an honor student majoring in Mass Communication with a minor in Biology, with aspirations of attending medical school.
On the evening of December 13, 1998, Dominique and her boyfriend, Peter Robertson, were in a parking lot when they were approached by a 19-year-old man named Kenneth Williams. Williams initially offered to take a picture of the couple, but his friendly demeanor was a facade. He then brandished a revolver and forced them into their car. What followed was a terrifying ordeal where Williams robbed them of their money and valuables, even forcing Robertson to withdraw more cash from an ATM. He drove them to a secluded area, where he ultimately shot them both, leaving them for dead. Dominique succumbed to a gunshot wound to the head, while Robertson, despite his injuries, managed to survive and seek help.
The investigation quickly led to Kenneth Williams, who was arrested and charged with a litany of crimes, including capital murder, attempted capital murder, kidnapping, and aggravated robbery. He was convicted on all counts and initially sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. However, less than a month into his sentence, Williams escaped from the Cummins Unit prison. During his time on the run, he committed two more murders before being recaptured. Following his recapture, Williams was sentenced to death for the murder he committed while an escaped convict.
Years later, in 2005, Williams confessed to another murder that occurred on the same day he killed Dominique. In his final words before his execution on April 27, 2017, Williams expressed remorse and apologized to the families of his victims, including the family of Dominique Hurd. Despite his apology, the pain of their loss remained for Dominique's family, who remembered her as a bright and spirited young woman whose life was senselessly taken.
