By Leah Jones
A Missouri man named Marcellus Williams is set to be executed by lethal injection on Sept. 24 for a crime evidence suggests he did not commit.
Many are calling for the overturn of the execution citing racial bias and disregard of evidence.
Williams has been on Missouri’s death row since 2001. He was convicted of the 1998 murder of former St. Louis reporter Felicia Gayle.
The conviction of Williams for the burglary and fatal stabbing of Gayle is based on the testimony of two witnesses, Henry Cole and Laura Asaro.
The witnesses' testimonies are criticized for being inconsistent and unsubstantial. Additionally, both were incentivized with money and leniency in their own cases for testifying.
Seven Black jurors were qualified but ultimately struck by Larner. The final jury over Williams’ trial was composed of 11 White jurors and 1 Black juror.
Forensic evidence from the crime scene supports Williams’ innocence. Fingerprints, DNA from the murder weapon, hair and more from the scene were found to have no match to Williams.
DNA of the prosecution team was also found, suggesting mishandling of the evidence.
Williams' execution has twice been stayed to conduct further investigation and DNA testing in 2015 and 2017. A Board of Inquiry was also created in 2017.
However, Missouri Governor Mike Parson dissolved the board in 2023 and had the execution reinstated.
With the conflicting DNA findings, Williams accepted an Alford plea on Aug. 21 for life in prison without parole instead of execution. Gayle’s family supported this plea deal.
However, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey had the plea agreement thrown out and moved forward with Williams’ execution on Sept. 24.