Marcellus Williams executed despite concerns over DNA evidence

Marcellus Williams, whose murder conviction is being scrutinised, was executed by lethal injection Tuesday evening in Missouri.

The 55-year-old was executed around 6 p.m. CT at Bonne Terre state prison.

Williams’ legal team filed multiple appeals citing new evidence, including alleged jury selection bias and contamination of the murder weapon. The victim’s family had requested clemency.

The US Supreme Court’s decision came a day after Missouri’s supreme court and governor also refused to halt the execution.

The high court provided no explanation for its decision, a common practice for its emergency docket. Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson noted they would have granted a stay in one of Williams’ appeals.

The murder case

Marcellus Williams was convicted in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter.

“We hope this brings closure to a long-standing case, sparing Ms. Gayle’s family further distress,” Gov. Mike Parson said via Trevor Foley, director of the Missouri Department of Corrections.

“No juror or judge has found Williams’ innocence claim credible. Over two decades of judicial proceedings upheld his guilty conviction. The execution order has been fulfilled.”

Williams maintained his innocence until his death, according to his attorney Larry Komp. “He acknowledged his past wrongs but consistently asserted his innocence regarding this crime,” Komp said.

“We are devastated by what the state has done to an innocent man, but he left this world in peace.”

Marcellus Williams has been executed.

His final statement was made public.

“All Praise Be To Allah In Every Situation!!!” pic.twitter.com/hDWg6gNIn3

— Censored Men (@CensoredMen) September 24, 2024

Following the high court’s decision, another attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, expressed dismay. “The state was prepared to execute an innocent man despite opposition from the prosecutor, jurors, and victims’ family. This highlights a system valuing finality over fairness,” Bushnell said.

The NAACP condemned the execution in a statement on X, asserting that Missouri executed an innocent Black man. They criticised Governor Parson for not intervening, emphasising DNA evidence should have halted the execution.

Contaminated DNA evidence

Recently, the top prosecutor in St. Louis County joined Williams’ attorneys in seeking to overturn the conviction based on new testimony and DNA evidence suggesting contamination.

The case underscored the risk of executing innocent individuals. Since 1973, at least 200 death row inmates have been exonerated, including four in Missouri, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Marcellus Williams’ last statement, witnessed on September 21, was “All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!” He was a devout Muslim, an imam for prisoners, and a poet, according to his legal team.

His final meal included chicken wings and tater tots, according to Karen Pojmann, spokesperson for the Missouri Department of Corrections.

He had a last visit with Imam Jalahii Kacem from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. CT.

My heart breaks hearing Marcellus Williams’ son talk about potentially having to watch his father executed today 💔 pic.twitter.com/YNl6WIxVts

— Angel Jones, PhD (@AngelJonesPhD) September 24, 2024

Marcellus Williams’ execution

At 4:50 p.m., the Department of Corrections received word that all petitions had been denied by the US Supreme Court. About an hour later, witnesses, including Williams’ son and two attorneys, were moved to the viewing area, Pojmann said.

At 6 p.m., state Attorney General Andrew Bailey informed the Department of Corrections that there were no legal barriers to the execution. The lethal injection was administered at 6:01 p.m., and Williams was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m., Pojmann stated.

Around 100 demonstrators protested the execution and capital punishment on the prison grounds, Pojmann noted.

None of Gayle’s family attended the execution.

Williams’ lawyers and St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell had filed a joint brief asking the Missouri Supreme Court for a “more comprehensive hearing” on Bell’s motion to vacate Williams’ 2001 conviction and sentence.

The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney’s Office argued that DNA testing of the murder weapon might indicate Williams was not the killer.

However, a circuit court hearing last month revealed the murder weapon had been mishandled, contaminating the evidence aimed at exonerating Williams.

DNA evidence complications

A report indicated the DNA on the weapon belonged to an assistant prosecuting attorney and an investigator who handled it without gloves before the trial, the state’s judicial branch stated.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office argued that the new DNA findings did not exonerate Williams.

“New DNA testing confirmed the knife had been handled by multiple individuals, including law enforcement,” Bailey said.

“One of the defense’s experts testified he couldn’t rule out the possibility that Williams’ DNA was on the knife, only that others’ DNA was present due to handling.”

The governor of Missouri doesn’t have to execute Marcellus Williams. He wants to do it.

This is the monster, Mike Parson.

This is the murderer, Mike Parson.

This is the butcher, Mike Parson. pic.twitter.com/zYPIAFHH5C

— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) September 24, 2024

Other evidence supporting Williams’ conviction “remains intact,” the attorney general stated.

“The victim’s belongings were found in Williams’ car. A witness testified Williams sold the victim’s laptop. Williams confessed to his girlfriend and an inmate, and his girlfriend saw him dispose of the bloody clothes,” the attorney general’s office said.

Williams’ attorneys had asked the US Supreme Court to stay the execution, citing “newly-discovered evidence from the trial prosecutor’s testimony” last month.

Supreme Court hearings

During an August 28 motion-to-vacate hearing, the 2001 trial prosecutor “admitted he struck a potential juror because, like Williams, the juror was Black,” Williams’ attorneys wrote in an emergency request to the US Supreme Court.

“There was a racial component,” attorney Jonathan Potts stated at a Missouri Supreme Court hearing. The Missouri Attorney General’s Office disputed this interpretation.

“He said they looked like brothers,” Assistant Attorney General Michael Spillane stated. “When asked directly if race was a factor, he denied it, explaining it would be a violation.”

Ultimately, the Missouri Supreme Court unanimously decided not to halt Williams’ execution due to insufficient evidence demonstrating his innocence or constitutional error, the court’s opinion read.

“Because this Court rejects this appeal on the merits, the motion for stay of execution is overruled as moot.”

Governor Parson, who also had the power to halt the execution, chose not to intervene.

“Williams exhausted due process and all judicial avenues, including over 15 hearings attempting to prove his innocence,” Parson said after the state Supreme Court’s decision.

“No jury or court found merit in Williams’ innocence claims. His guilty verdict and capital punishment sentence were upheld. Nothing from the facts of this case led me to believe in Williams’ innocence; therefore, his punishment will be carried out as ordered.”

The St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney’s Office had reached an agreement with Williams. Under the consent judgment, Williams would enter an Alford plea of guilty and be resentenced to life in prison.

However, the state attorney general’s office opposed the deal, appealing to the state Supreme Court, which blocked the agreement.

People deliver more than a million petitions asking for a stay of execution for Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams to the Missouri Governor’s office at the State Capitol following a rally in the rotunda today. pic.twitter.com/TBXGvxFVOF

— The WE project (@theWEprojectMO) September 24, 2024

Call for clemency

Williams’ team filed a clemency petition to the US Supreme Court, noting Missouri’s previous governor had indefinitely postponed Williams’ execution amid trial integrity questions.

Former Governor Eric Greitens had halted Williams’ execution and formed a board to investigate his case and determine if clemency was warranted.

“The Board investigated Williams’ case for six years until Governor Parson terminated the process,” Williams’ attorneys wrote.

After Parson took office, he dissolved the board and revoked Williams’ stay of execution, depriving Williams of due process, his lawyers argued.

“The Governor’s actions violated Williams’ constitutional rights, creating an urgent need for the Court’s attention,” Williams’ attorneys stated in court documents.

Parson defended his decision.

“This Board was established nearly six years ago, and it is time to move forward,” Parson said. “We could delay for another six years, deferring justice and leaving a victim’s family in limbo. This administration won’t do that.”