NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Matthew Lewis has become a familiar face for many prisoners at Riverbend Maximum Security Institute. As a minister, he's learning not only how to get close to them but to also say goodbye.
On Thursday, he said farewell to someone he considered one of his closest inmates with a communion, otherwise known as a Eucharist. That man was 58-year-old Nicholas Sutton, who would be executed four hours later by the electric chair for a 1985 murder of a fellow prisoner. He had already been serving a sentence for three earlier murders including his own grandmother.
"Doing it through the prison bars was somber to say the least," Lewis told NewsChannel 5.
Lewis said his last conversation with Sutton was how he wanted to thank the people who supported him and how he felt he deserved nothing. He'll remember his humor and straight-shoot look in his eyes, which could explain why media witnesses described him as frowning and solemn. He said Sutton seemed strong and confident before his execution.
Lewis also a read a statement from Sutton to his wife of more than 25 years.
"Girl, we ran till the wheels ran off. We didn't quite make it. We just ran out of road," it read.
The reverend for Christ Church Cathedral in Nashville said it was Sutton's wife who helped him maintain his faith. Sutton's last words buckled to the electric chair honored God, his family and friends. His faith grew stronger closer to the execution date, according to Lewis.
Reverend Lewis has known Sutton for the last year as a volunteer chaplain. He's been part of a prison ministry and regularly sees inmates, some on death row, even leading execution vigils on the property.
Not everyone shares the same sentiment as Lewis though. A family member of one of Sutton's victim's had a Tennessee Department of Correction representative read a statement after his execution on how she would never forgive him for what he did.
"My children were denied meeting a wonderful man who would have spoiled them rotten and loved them with all his heart. He suffered a terrible and horrific death. And for that, I will never forgive Mr Sutton," Amy Large Cook, the sister of victim John Large said in the statement.
"I don't question or downplay the original harm and horrible consequences but I question how it's dealt with in the state," Lewis added. "I also don't think those wrongs are made right by more killing."
Lewis was one of a few people allowed to see Sutton on the three-day death watch. He didn't want to see his family from the execution chamber during but his wife visited frequently before the death watch.
Currently, there are 52 Tennessee inmates on death row.
