On September 24, 2024, at 6:00 pm, a man believed to be innocent, even by the prosecution team on his case, was executed for a crime he almost certainly did not commit.
Marcellus Williams was a 55-year-old inmate who, for the last 20 years, has been on death row. On June 15, 2001, Williams was wrongly convicted of the murder of Felica Gayle and the armed robbery of her home.
On August 11, 1998, the body of 42 y/o Felica Gayle was found in her gated community in University City, Missouri, after a robbery. Forensic evidence found the perpetrator’s fingerprints, hair, footprints, and traces of DNA from the weapon used, none of which belonged to Williams.
As noted by the Innocence Project, which works to overturn wrongful convictions, during Williams’ case, Laura Asaro, his ex-girlfriend, and Henry Cole, his cellmate, took two testimonies. Both were given a monetary incentive of $10,000 and promised that time would be taken off their prison sentences for testifying against Williams—all the “evidence” they gave police evidence that Missouri prosecutors already knew. Thus, the defense team argued that the evidence used to convict Williams came from unreliable sources, explained Sam Levin from The Guardian.
Furthermore, although Marcellus Williams is a black man, his jury consisted of eleven white jurors and only one black juror, appointed by Missouri prosecutors. Seven black jurors were struck from his case by said prosecutors. According to NPR, in the Missouri court system, between the years 2014 and 2015, four black men were executed via lethal injection after being tried by all-white juries.
Journalists Cindy Von Quednow and Holly Yan from CNN report that, in a motion-to-vacate hearing, it was admitted by one of Williams’ prosecutors that the reason they struck black jury members was because of their race. This violates Kentucky v. Batson, which states a juror cannot be struck from a case on the basis of race – this alone should have been grounds for a deferral.
After Williams’s 2001 conviction, he has tried to have his guilty verdict appealed on many different occasions. Once, in 2017 when the Missouri Supreme Court had a team look over the DNA evidence and stalled Williams’ execution. Although, there was no new hearing for Williams’ case after complete DNA testing.
The case was then taken to the Missouri Supreme Court, where he was placed back on death row and set to die on August 22, 2017. His execution was stalled hours before his death, which the former Missouri Governor, Eric Greitin, ordered at the time; Greitin took the new DNA seriously and appointed a Board of Inquiry to do an investigation on Williams’ case.
In June 2023, the new Missouri Governor, Mike Parson, had the Board of Inquiry dissolved before the Board of Inquiry’s investigation was completed. Williams’ team filed a civil suit against Parson for violating his constitutional rights and breaking Missouri law, which states that Marcellus Williams would stay off death row until the Board of Inquiry made an official report. Sadly, the Missouri Supreme Court dissolved the lawsuit, which led to the new execution date of September 24, 2024, to be set for Williams.
Years later, there is still no solid evidence of Marcellus Williams killing Felica Gayle.
Despite evidence of Williams’ innocence, the victim’s family speaking out against execution, Missouri prosecutors admitting lack of evidence, and millions of Americans calling for his release, Attorney General Andrew Bailey did not overturn his conviction or execution. Bailey has been known to veto the exoneration of wrongfully convicted criminals and often opted for the execution of the wrongfully convicted.
However, due to public outcry for clemency and over 1,400,000 petition signatures, on Monday, September 23, his plea for clemency was opened for another hearing. St. Louis Prosecuting attorney, Wesley Bell, offered the assistance of his office in fighting for Williams’ life, stating, “when there is a shadow of a doubt of any defendant’s guilt, the irreversible punishment of execution should not be an option,” as published in The Guardian.
Sadly, it was swiftly denied by Governor Parson. Along with the Governor’s decision, the Missouri Supreme Court also rejected clemency in a unanimous decision. In a last attempt to save Marcellus Williams, his team took this case to the U.S. Supreme Court, which denied him his life by allowing the execution to go ahead, despite the overwhelming support for the halting of his execution.
In a statement made by his office, Governor Parson explained his decision: “Nothing from the real facts of this case have led me to believe in Mr. Williams’ innocence, as such, Mr. Williams’ punishment will be carried out as ordered by the Supreme Court.”
Because of this choice, a potentially innocent man died via lethal injection at 6:00 pm.
The people fought for the life of Marcellus up to the moment of his death. His last words were, “All praise to Allah in every situation.”
May Williams rest in peace. He will be mourned by his loved ones and all who fought for him.
