Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams has been executed despite admissions from a prosecutor’s office claiming his innocence.
Williams, 55, had been convicted of the 1998 murder of Lisha Gayle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
His execution was scheduled for 6pm CT. His final words were “All praise be to Allah in every situation!!!” Williams’ Imam, Jalahii Kacem, visited him from 11am to 12.30pm. He was with Williams in the execution room when officials administered a lethal injection.
His final meal was served at 10.53am and included chicken wings and tater tots. He was one of four men scheduled to be put to death this week. Travis Mullis, a Texas death row inmate, was scheduled to be executed for killing his infant son around the same time.
Williams’ attorneys filed two requests to stay his execution on Monday. Both of them were denied shortly before his execution.
Three justices — Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan, Sonia Maria Sotomayor — dissented from the second request, which focused on new DNA evidence and claims from the prosecutor’s office that he may have been innocent.
Williams’ attorneys had said DNA evidence on the knife used in the attack led back to an unknown male profile and did not match Williams. The court rejected the claim on Saturday.
“There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding,” St Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton wrote. “Williams is guilty of first-degree murder, and has been sentenced to death.”
Officials with the prosecutor’s office recently filed a motion to vacate his conviction.
A trial judge approved their motion but Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey contested the decision. The case was then sent back to the same trial judge who reversed his initial ruling.
On Monday, Governor Mike Parson denied him clemency and the Missouri Supreme Court declined to grant him a stay of execution. Williams’ clemency petition detailed how Gayle’s relatives wanted his sentence commuted to life without parole.
During his murder trial, attorneys for Williams described him as “a caring and loving father.” His family members and friends have said that his execution would have “a significant effect on his family.”
Before leaving office, Missouri Governor Eric Greiten issued a stay of execution for Williams. He appointed a board of inquiry to look into the case and make a recommendation for clemency. Governor Parson dissolved the board and lifted the stay in 2023 after his election.
This is a developing story…