Marcellus Williams is scheduled to be executed on September 24, despite the fact DNA evidence proves he did not kill Felicia Anne Gayle in 1998, and even though St. Louis County prosecuting attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion to vacate Williams’ conviction after he reviewed the DNA results, according to the Innocence Project. And despite the fact the circuit court hasn’t yet scheduled a hearing to address the motion, the Missouri Supreme Court still set an execution date.
“The story — like every story about capital punishment — begins with tragedy and evil,” David French writes in a New York Times opinion piece.
The 55-year-old Williams was sentenced to death in 1998 for the murder of Gayle during an attempted burglary, even though there was no physical evidence tying Williams to the crime scene, and three DNA experts “independently concluded” that Williams was not the source of DNA found on the murder weapon, according to Bell’s motion. In addition, according to the Times, bloody footprints in Gayle’s house didn’t match Williams’s shoes, and hair samples found at the scene did not match Williams’ hair.
Prosecutors relied on evidence from a jailhouse informant and Williams’ former girlfriend, who, according to the Times, “were deeply problematic witnesses,” facing unrelated criminal charges, “who stood to benefit from their testimony.”
In 2017, then-Gov. Eric Greitens stayed Williams’ execution and convened a board of inquiry to investigate the case. However, six years later, the board still hadn’t issued a report, and in June 2023, the current Republican governor of Missouri, Mike Parson, dissolved the panel.
The state of Missouri will kill an innocent man in less than 100 days. Please sign the Innocence Project petition and demand the circuit court hold a hearing on the motion to vacate Williams’ conviction.