The cause of death listed on Williams' death certificate is "homicide," she said.

As she walked past the six corrections officers after they had delivered Williams to the execution chamber, she said they were sobbing. One man quit his job after the execution.

Vivian Tuttle, whose daughter Yvonne was killed in the 2002 Norfolk bank robbery and who supports the death penalty, held a photo of her daughter taken the Friday before she walked into the bank to cash a $64 check.

Yvonne Tuttle's youngest daughter, who was 3 at the time, doesn't remember her mom, she said.

"She's depressed, she's angry, she's afraid. And she carries that fear because of what happened that day," she said.

The pain and sorrow never goes away, Tuttle said.

And when you talk about the cost of the death penalty, she said, "My daughter's blood that was spilled on that bank floor was worth more than any of the money that it took to do any of this."

Many of the people present at the hearing were supporters of retaining the law that abolished the death penalty.