Funeral Arrangements Finalized for Corrections Officer
By: Eric Deabill
Updated: February 27, 2013
Canaan Township, Wayne County - Funeral arrangements have been finalized to honor a corrections officer who was killed Monday night by an inmate at the federal prison in Wayne County.
At the same time, the investigation into the death of Eric Williams is still ongoing.
Investigators have released very few exact details about the incident, including the name of the inmate who was involved.
Even though there were no guards at the entrance of USP Canaan Wednesday, the facility remained on lockdown.
A spokesman for the prison guard's union confirms Williams was working alone in a housing unit, supervising roughly 130 prisoners when he was attacked.
"I don't think there should be one person in amongst all the prisoners, one guard, I think there should be at least two," Gerald Olver of Honesdale said.
Union members also say Williams was not armed at the time. They say he would have only had keys, handcuffs and a radio.
"They need to protect them guys better, they really do," Dawn Lepkowski of Waymart said. "A radio just isn't cutting it, I'm sorry."
"I'm always concerned when these rare things happen that people are going to over-react and they're going to get nervous," Dr. Harry Dammer with the University of Scranton said.
Dr. Dammer has studied prisons around the world. He is the chairman of the University of Scranton's criminal justice department.
He says for the time of the attack, around 10:00 PM Monday night, having only one guard for that many prisoners probably isn't uncommon.
"I don't think that would be normal for daytime if everybody is out of their cell, moving to-and-fro, maybe activities or going to lunch in the mid-day but for 10:00 o'clock at night, that's not out of control numbers," Dr. Dammer said.
A prison spokeswoman said Tuesday that the guard levels were at adequate levels at the time of the assault but some people in the public are now questioning that.
"They need to put more people on there," Lepkowski said. "It's just crazy out there now. They have nothing to lose. They're lifers up there, 90-percent of them. They have nothing to lose."
Funeral services for Eric Williams are as follows:
Public Viewing
4:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Greater Nanticoke Area High School Gym
Funeral Mass
11:00 AM
St. Faustina Kowalska Parish on South Hanover Street in Nanticoke
A memorial fund has also been established for 34-year-old Eric Williams:
Eric J. Williams Memorial Fund
Attn: AFGE Local 3003
PO Box 578
Waymart, PA 18472
