An American man from Missouri convicted of murder, Marcellus Williams, was executed by lethal injection on Tuesday evening despite ongoing concerns over the legitimacy of his conviction.
The execution occurred at 6 p.m. CT at the Bonne Terre state prison, following the denial of multiple appeals by both the Missouri and US Supreme Courts, and a refusal of clemency by the state governor.
Williams, 55, had been convicted in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was found stabbed to death in her home.
However, his legal team, as well as the prosecuting attorney from the original trial, had raised significant doubts about the integrity of the conviction.
New evidence, including DNA testing and alleged mishandling of the murder weapon, was presented in an effort to halt the execution. These efforts were supported by Gayle’s family, who had also called for clemency, asking for Williams to be spared the death penalty.
The US Supreme Court denied a stay of execution without providing an explanation, as is common in emergency rulings.
There were no dissents in two of Williams’ three appeals, but in the third, Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson indicated they would have granted the stay.
Following the execution, Missouri Governor Mike Parson released a statement through Trevor Foley, the Director of the Missouri Department of Corrections, stating that the execution brought closure to the long-standing case.
Parson remarked, “We hope this gives finality to a case that’s languished for decades, re-victimizing Ms. Gayle’s family for decades.”
He further emphasized that no judicial authority had ever found Williams’ claims of innocence credible, citing over 15 judicial hearings that upheld the conviction.
However, Williams’ attorney, Larry Komp, expressed deep dismay after his client’s death, reaffirming Williams’ consistent assertion of innocence.
“While he would readily admit to the wrongs he had done throughout his life, he never wavered in asserting his innocence of the crime for which he was put to death tonight,” Komp said.
He added, “Although we are devastated and in disbelief over what the State has done to an innocent man, we are comforted that he left this world in peace.”
Tricia Rojo Bushnell, another attorney for Williams, condemned the legal system that had allowed the execution to proceed despite the evidence pointing to Williams’ innocence.
Speaking to CNN’s Jake Tapper, she stated, “They will do it even though the prosecutor doesn’t want him to be executed, the jurors who sentenced him to death don’t want him executed and the victims themselves don’t want him to be executed. We have a system that values finality over fairness.”
The NAACP also criticized the decision, with a strong message posted on X, claiming, “Missouri lynched another innocent Black man. Governor Parson had the responsibility to save this innocent life, and he didn’t … We will hold Governor Parson accountable.”
The case had drawn significant attention due to the emerging doubts around Williams’ conviction.
Recently, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney, Wesley Bell, had joined Williams’ defense team in calling for the conviction to be overturned.
New DNA evidence revealed contamination of the murder weapon, which was handled improperly before the trial.
Despite this, the Missouri Attorney General’s office maintained that the evidence did not exonerate Williams, with Attorney General Andrew Bailey noting that while the knife had been handled by multiple individuals, including law enforcement, Williams’ guilt was supported by other key pieces of evidence.
Bailey pointed out that Gayle’s personal items were discovered in Williams’ possession after the murder, and that witnesses testified to seeing Williams with the victim’s belongings and disposing of bloody clothing. He also emphasized that Williams had confessed to the crime to both his girlfriend and a fellow inmate.
Williams’ legal team had also uncovered testimony from the trial’s prosecutor, who admitted to striking a juror from the pool during selection because the juror, like Williams, was Black.
This raised allegations of racial bias, but the Missouri courts ultimately dismissed these concerns. The state Supreme Court ruled that Williams’ defense team had failed to provide clear and convincing evidence of his innocence or constitutional violations in his original trial.
Despite these legal hurdles, the victim’s family had previously reached an agreement with the St. Louis Prosecutor’s Office, consenting to resentencing Williams to life in prison under an Alford plea, a legal arrangement that allows a defendant to maintain innocence while acknowledging that the evidence is likely to result in a conviction.
However, the Missouri Attorney General’s office opposed the deal, and the state Supreme Court blocked its implementation.
Williams, a devout Muslim who served as an imam for fellow prisoners, spent his final hours with Imam Jalahii Kacem and offered a last statement proclaiming, “All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!” His final meal included chicken wings and tater tots. He was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. CT, surrounded by his son and two attorneys who witnessed the execution.
Protests against the death penalty took place outside the prison, with around 100 demonstrators present, though no members of Felicia Gayle’s family attended the execution.
This marks a tragic end to a case that sparked widespread debate about the fallibility of the death penalty and the potential for irreversible injustice.
