Last statements are also an opportunity for inmates to profess their innocence — or to admit guilt — for the last time to family, friends, and media gathered in the execution witness booth. In all, 22 inmates executed in Texas from the past 10 years expressed their innocence in last statements; nearly twice as many, 41, expressed sentiments of guilt for the crime they committed. In last statements where guilt is a central theme, the word “sorry” is, perhaps unsurprisingly, very prevalent. “Sorry” was said among Texas death row inmates 89 times in the past 10 years. Nearly 30 percent of people on death row in Texas admitted their guilt in last statements, though some expressed guilt in different ways.

Remorse is common among those guilty of their crimes, but it’s not certain.

“You clown police. You gonna stop with all that killing all these kids. You’re gonna stop killing innocent kids, murdering young kids. When I kill one or pop one, ya’ll want to kill me. God has a plan for everything. You hear? I love everyone that loves me. I ain’t got no love for anyone that don’t love me.” — Jeffrey D. Williams, Huntsville, executed May 15, 2013

Williams was executed for shooting and killing a plain-clothed police officer in 1999 while resisting arrest for a separate car theft. Two months after Williams was executed, George Zimmerman was acquitted from murder charges in the infamous shooting of Trayvon Martin.

Other references to social justice—specifically relating to the death penalty—seem to be on death row inmates’ minds as well.

On July 17, the day of Young’s execution, the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty uploaded a 42-second video to YouTube that showcased Young sharing his thoughts behind the glass of a non-contact visiting booth on death row. When the video was recorded, Young was not sure whether he would be granted clemency, but it nonetheless showcases the thoughts of Young while his life was in jeopardy.

“Just because I get executed don’t mean the death penalty is going anywhere,” Young said in the video. “You know you have a lot of individuals that have done everything to grow up back here to change their situation. This fight is ongoing.”

For African-American men like Young, this fight is infinitely uphill. Though 11.8 percent of Texans are African-American, 36 percent of those executed in Texas are African-American. Even more troubling, according to one study of racial inequality on death row, 288 black defendants were executed for killing a white person, compared to just 20 white defendants who killed a black victim.