Dwayne “Bim” Staats and Jarreau “Ruk” Ayers co-authored, in alternating sections, the following piece about witnessing the mental destruction of two men—Kelly Gibbs and Keith Gibson—behind the torturous walls of solitary confinement. Staats and Ayers both grew up in Wilmington, Delaware, and were both serving life sentences when they were indicted—along with fifteen others—for their alleged involvement in the uprising at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center in Delaware in February 2017. Once convicted, both were transferred to the Pennsylvania prison system to serve their time. Staats, now back at Vaughn prison in Delaware, has been locked down in indefinite solitary confinement in both states for 15 years and has never been to general population in all of his 20 years of incarceration. Ayers was released to general population in March 2024 after spending nearly 19 years in solitary confinement.

Staats is the founder of Believing in Myself, LLC, and the self-published author of Rebellious Hearts: When Forced Into a Corner, They Attack. Staats and Ayers are both fathers, pro-se litigators, co-authors of Vaughn 17 Speaks, and co-founders of Rebellious Hearts, which is a movement for liberation built upon revolutionary, matriarchal, abolitionist, and Black power principles. You can follow Staats on Instagram at @bim_21_ or write to him on GettingOut.com, using his name “Dwayne Staats” and DOC number 00467005. You can follow Ayers on Instagram at @remember_ur_krown or write to him on ConnectNetwork, using his name “Jarreau Ayers” and his DOC number NS9994.

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“The fish in the fish farm are chronically ill with sores because the water is polluted. The ‘professional’ fish doctors have determined the cause of the sores is germ infection and proceeded to introduce antibiotics into the feed of the fish. It’s obvious that they will not cure the fish because they are treating an effect and not the root cause.” —Ra Un Nefer Amen 

This analogy is an accurate portrayal of the relation between prisoners and solitary confinement. Extensive research has been done regarding the long and short term effects of such conditions, and all the results come back negative. It’s an oxymoron for a psychologist who is knowledgeable of these findings to visit solitary confinement and ask prisoners: ” Are you alright?” They know these “control units” exacerbate existing mental illnesses and are fertile grounds for nurturing thoughts of harm. They understand that this harm will eventually be inflicted upon self or others. 

I know people who’ve been released from solitary confinement, and now they’re diagnosed with PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder). That in itself is an admission or acknowledgment that solitary confinement alters the mind to the point of creating a warped sense of reality. There are mechanisms in place to treat, penalize, persecute and analyze the effects. Unfortunately, the root cause continues to be neglected. —Bim and Ruk

Dwayne “Bim” Staats:

This article is about two former co-defendants (Kelly Gibbs and Keith Gibson), and the deadly impact that solitary confinement had on them. Gibbs allegedly committed suicide on November 22, 2018, while in Department of Corrections (DOC) custody, and Gibson was recently sentenced to seven life sentences plus 296 years for taking the lives of at least two people. 

The first time I heard of Kelly Gibbs was on October 17, 2017. That’s the day seventeen prisoners, including myself, were indicted on charges associated with the February 1, 2017, uprising that happened at James T. Vaughn Correctional Center. Immediately, all seventeen of us were split into two groups, then sequestered in different facilities across the state. Seven months later, my group was relocated to SCI Georgetown with Kelly Gibbs and the rest of my co-defendants. I’d end up occupying the cell next to his. 

We were housed indefinitely in solitary confinement while awaiting trial. The administration and guards treated us like we were guilty. Their mentality is why we endured retaliatory treatment and physical, psychological, and emotional abuses. A lot of our paranoia and anxiety was triggered by the Deputy Attorney General John Downs and Judge Carpenter’s decision to withhold all witness statements from us, leaving us in the dark about the evidence the prosecution had and would try to use against us at trial. 

Most of my co-defendants had no idea what they were defending themselves against. This ultimately heightened the psychological effects of solitary confinement—especially for Gibbs, who was already diagnosed as SMI (severely mentally ill). I was representing myself for trial, which meant the prosecution had to give me all the evidence and statements. I shared this info with all my co-defendants, but Gibbs would always bang on the wall for my attention, then accuse me of keeping information from him. Other times he would call over and say things like, “Staats I see what’s going on, don’t nobody deal with me no more.” I’d respond, “What are you talking about Kels?” He’d say, “Y’all act like I ain’t here, don’t nobody check on me. It’s like y’all tryna use me to take the fall!” After assuring him that none of that was true, a few hours later, we’d be back at the door having the same conversation. I saw how serious things became when he called me to his door one morning while I was out for recreation.

He said, “Staats I can’t take this shit! Why I get charged? Why I get charged?” I started to respond, but was stunned by the tears that started streaming down his face. I couldn’t do anything but reiterate what we all kept telling him: he’s going to get through this, we are all in this together, and all the information is being shared amongst the collective. I had a lot on my plate, so I really couldn’t provide the attention or consultation that his condition deserved. 

A few months later, I was sent to another facility to start trial with group one, which consisted of Me, Ruk, and Deric Forney. I remember our jury returning the verdicts on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving. Ruk and I were found guilty, and Forney got acquitted of all charges. The next day we were informed that Kelly Gibbs had allegedly committed suicide. Upon further information it was revealed that while the jury was deliberating over the first trial, Gibbs and his lawyer met with the Delaware Deputy Attorneys General to enter a seven-year plea agreement. For most, trial is a reflection of racism and oppression, making it common for the innocent to readily accept pleas.

The Department of Corrections mentally crippled Kelly Gibbs, and the Department of Justice killed him. Despite Gibbs’ innocence, the state forced him into a decision that would either strip him of seven years of freedom or risk the rest of his life behind bars. Facing such a dire decision in solitary confinement magnifies the already-severe psychological torture of isolation. Gibbs was left alone with only his own thoughts, four concrete walls, and his anxiety about what fabricated evidence might be presented against him. Gibbs chose to take the plea.

When the verdicts came back, Forney (who basically had the same amount of witnesses lying against him as Gibbs) was acquitted. I believe that Gibbs regretted taking that seven years knowing he was innocent. That was a regret he couldn’t live with. 

It comes as no surprise that DAG John Downs was never questioned or made a statement in regards to Gibbs’ death. It wouldn’t have meant much anyway, because he wouldn’t have acknowledged that Kelly Gibbs was killed by the system.

Jarreau “Ruk” Ayers:

Unfortunately, I’ve been forced to watch the mental deterioration of a lot of good, strong individuals, while being buried alive inside the Department of Corrections’ solitary confinement units. From Delaware to Pennsylvania prisons as both a child and an adult, a lot of the pain I’ve experienced while locked down in solitary confinement has led me to express my anger and frustration at the hypocrisy of this country.

We live in a country that seeks redemption and rehabilitation for its racist and oppressive atrocities, yet condemns people to conditions such as indefinite solitary confinement, completely void of this same hope and redemption it seeks. The re-incarceration of Keith “Sadeek” Gibson, recently convicted of two murders and currently being charged with multiple additional murders from Pennsylvania to Delaware, is what really forced me to speak out. 

I grew up with Keith Gibson on the north side of Wilmington, Delaware. Sadly, like a lot of other childhood friends within our inner cities, we reconnected while locked down 47-and-1 (47 straight hours inside of the cell before being let out for one hour) inside the Delaware prison SHU (Security Housing Unit). I remember coming out for my hour of recreation and seeing someone watching me from their cell door window. He yelled out, “Ruk, what’s up? It’s Sadeek!” At the time, I didn’t know him by his Islamic name so he stepped closer to the window, smiled, and said, “It’s Keith. Damn Ruk, I ain’t seen you in years.” 

This moment is extremely important because at this time we hadn’t seen each other in over 15 years, and he could identify me from a distance. We spent about a year together locked down on that same unit before we both moved on to different solitary confinement units from 23-and-1 to 22-and-2 back to 47-and-1, repeating the cycle of lockdown recidivism within the prison system.

After a few conversations, it was clear Keith was focused on his religious beliefs, and he had become fluent in Arabic. He started to study books on economics and business, telling me that he was going to go home and open up an Islamic clothing store for him and his kids because he just wanted to make his second chance count for him and his family. 

We were separated for about 18 months, locked down in different parts of the SHU, but around 2013, I was transferred back on to the tier with Keith Gibson, and as soon as the COs locked me in my cell and walked away, I called him to the door. Standing only one cell away looking me right in my face he asked, “Who’s dat???” I thought he was joking. This is the same person who could identify me across a whole tier after not seeing me for 15 years. Now, 18 months later and less than a cell apart, he couldn’t remember me. 

I remember hearing from people who had seen him saying: “That SHU is killing Sadeek,” or “Ruk, the brother Sadeek losing it.” I just brushed it off as exaggeration. Now, after seeing the lost look in his eyes, I could tell it was real. 

Two days later, Keith came to the door. I’ll never forget how his mood was uplifted with a smile on his face but his words said it all: “Oh shit Ruk, when did they move you on the tier?” As if he had completely forgotten the conversation from two days ago. 

There were plenty of nights when I would hear him at 1 or 2 in the morning arguing with himself, as if there was someone else in the cell with him. Things got worse over the years. The last time I saw Sadeek was in 2014 around 3 AM. There was a lot of commotion in my unit. I came to the door and saw the COs taking Sadeek out to the infirmary. They said he had threatened to kill himself. I can’t say how long it took for this system to destroy him on that level but I know that a man who was focused on getting his life on track without any help from the system had mentally deteriorated to a man who no longer wanted to be alive. 

Kelly Gibbs and Keith Gibson both had plans to change their lives and do positive things in the community and their families. Yet, Kelly Gibbs succumbed to the mental torture of solitary confinement and the pressure of being falsely indicted, and he allegedly took his own life. Now his friend and prior co-defendant, Keith Gibson, had fallen victim to that same mental deterioration while locked down in solitary confinement. He not only attempted to take his life while incarcerated, but is now back behind bars serving several life sentences for allegedly murdering some innocent people over nothing!

These court systems, these prison systems, these solitary confinement units aren’t beneficial for anything other than capitalizing off of warehousing human bodies and placing them on this conveyor belt of recidivism. When are those with the power to put an end to this mental torture going to step up and operate on the principles of morality they claim as their motivation? For over a decade, the United Nations, along with bipartisan scientists, have identified the inhumane effects of solitary confinement, so the mental deterioration of the individuals we mention is no surprise. 

My comrade Bim and I struggle in our own ways to fight the effects of this mental torture. We have witnessed many of our co-defendants drastically change from the effects of solitary. Individuals who were actually found innocent of any wrongdoing and not only have become more mentally sensitive to the effects of the torture, but in most of their cases (like Keith Gibson), they will soon be released back into society without any significant help to mentally and emotionally integrate them back into society or their own families.

My brother and codefendant Lawrence Michaels, recently released after fifteen years in prison—including ten in solitary confinement—expressed to me how difficult it’s been integrating himself not only back into society, but more importantly into his family. The mental and emotional trauma suffered from years in solitary confinement, along with being conditioned to be completely dependent on this system affects our ability to be independent or function in healthy relationships. He’s been blessed to have met his wife who understands and has helped to ease that anxiety but it’s a daily struggle for him to be the man, father, and husband that this system tries to prevent us from being. 

Lawrence said he overlooked the possible stigma of being mentioned in this article because people need help. People’s lives are at stake. The system is mentally killing human beings through the inhumane practice of solitary confinement.