Nanon Williams
Nanon Williams has spent nearly 34 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.
When he was just a teenager, Nanon was wrongfully convicted of capital murder after a trial that featured shoddy forensics, blatantly incorrect ballistics evidence, and false testimony by the actual perpetrator.
Nanon Williams is innocent, and it is time to bring him home.
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In 1992, Nanon was charged with murdering Adonius Collier as part of a drug deal gone wrong in a local park in Houston, Texas.
Robert Baldwin, the firearms expert who testified at Nanon’s trial, stated that the bullet in Collier’s head was a .25 caliber round – purported to belong to Nanon, though no such gun was ever found – even though the only gun recovered from the scene was a .22 caliber belonging to Nanon’s drug-dealing associate, Vaal Guevara.
Baldwin did not test Guevara’s gun before the trial. Years later, however, Baldwin recanted his testimony, admitting that the fatal bullet was in fact a .22 caliber, and concluding that it was fired from the bottom chamber of Guevara’s weapon.
At trial, Guevara was the only witness to testify that Nanon committed the murder. As it turns out, the prosecution offered him the chance to plead guilty to a lesser charge in exchange for his testimony against Nanon. Guevara himself was sentenced to only 10 years in prison, of which he served less than five.
Nanon was originally sentenced to death and spent 10 years on Texas’s notorious death row. During this time, he watched over 450 men get executed, and he felt the looming specter of his own execution until the Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that it was unconstitutional to impose the death penalty on people under eighteen at the time of their crime. Nanon’s death sentence was then commuted to 40-years-to-life.
Several jurors from the original trial have since stated they would have voted differently had they heard accurate ballistics testimony. Over the years, Nanon’s conviction has been overturned – but then reinstated – several times, yet Nanon is still stuck in a prison cell.
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How Rob and Michele Reiner formed a remarkable bond with a Texas man once sentenced to death
Read more about Nanon’s case and his close connection to the late Rob and Michele Reiner through exclusive reporting by Dan Slepian and Mike Hixenbaugh of NBC News.
Examples of Rob and Michele’s communication with Nanon. Photos courtesy of NBC News.
Unlikely Advocates - Making an Exoneree
Nanon’s film was created by Fax Victor (C’19), Steffanny Acevedo (C’19), and Abigail Adams-Spiers (C’19). See photo gallery for a photo of the four of them when they visited Nanon.
In the Spring of 2019, three undergraduate students at Georgetown University were tasked with reinvestigating Nanon’s case. These students were all part of the Making an Exoneree course, a unique class that allows students to spend an intensive semester reinvestigating likely wrongful conviction cases, ultimately creating a public documentary that highlights the aspects of wrongful conviction and tells the story of the incarcerated individual.
Through Making an Exoneree, students are empowered to travel to the crime scenes, visit the person in prison, and create short documentaries, websites, and social media campaigns advocating for exoneration (and for parole, clemency, resentencing, or other release, if appropriate).
Making an Exoneree was created by two people who share a unique connection and history: Marc Howard and Marty Tankleff. Childhood friends since the age of three, they know about wrongful convictions and exonerations through their own personal experience. Tankleff spent almost 18 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, and Howard played a role in helping to secure his exoneration. Together, they created Making an Exoneree.
The program originated at Georgetown University, where Howard and Tankleff have taught it every spring semester since 2018. Today, across five universities (Princeton University, New York University, University of California - Santa Cruz, Rice University) and Georgetown Law, Making an Exoneree has investigated 61 cases and contributed to the release of 13 wrongfully convicted individuals nationwide, who served over 300 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. Many others are also now represented by counsel and/or receiving significant media attention.
Still Surviving
It would be entirely understandable if Nanon, an innocent man condemned to die in prison, had let pain and anger consume him.
But Nanon did not give up.
Instead, Nanon has worked relentlessly to improve himself. He discovered a passion for writing and has greatly furthered his education, earning his GED, receiving an associate’s degree in Liberal Arts from Trinity Valley Community College, a B.S. in Behavioral Sciences from the University of Houston - Clear Lake, an M.A. in Humanities, as well as numerous trade certifications, and has nearly completed a second master’s degree in Literature.
Nanon has written and published several books and collections of poetry, including his autobiography, Still Surviving. He has become a peer educator to other incarcerated men, and frequently speaks by phone from prison with high school and college students across the country about his experiences.
While incarcerated, Nanon has honed his skills as an adept craftsman, producing beautiful works of art, jewelry, and personal accessories out of metal and leather from within Ramsey’s craft shop. Nanon brings beauty and light into the world, forging intricate pieces for friends, family, and loved ones.
With a natural eye for design and a steady, careful hand, Nanon hopes to continue his craft if he is released from prison, so that he can support and express himself, while also contributing positively to his community.
Examples of Nanon’s work, including a belt, bag, and sign for the Prisons and Justice Initiative located in Washington D.C.
Outside Support
Despite the isolating nature of the prison environment, Nanon has formed deep interpersonal connections with many people, both within and beyond the walls of prison.
Inside Texas’s Ramsey Unit, Nanon has become a mentor and mental health counselor to countless other incarcerated individuals. He draws on his own resolve and wisdom to help others endure the horrible anguish of prison life and better themselves, just as he has.
Nanon has also formed deep bonds with numerous advocates outside of prison. These include the legendary performer and activist Bryonn Bain, whose Lyrics from Lockdown one-man show has brought Nanon’s voice and case to audiences around the world. Marc Howard, the director of Georgetown University’s Prisons and Justice Initiative and co-founder of the Making an Exoneree program that has reexamined Nanon’s case and supports his innocence claims, considers Nanon a personal friend and actually officiated Nanon and his wife Tera’s wedding in prison on June 15, 2023.
Nanon also had a particularly close relationship with the late Rob and Michele Reiner, as well as with their daughter, Romy. The Reiners corresponded with Nanon frequently, met regularly with his legal team, and were tireless advocates for his release. The Reiners are pictured alongside some of Nanon’s close family and key supporters, after a recent Lyrics from Lockdown performance, just 36 hours before their tragic deaths.
