A death row inmate has been executed by the State of Missouri, despite prosecutors advocating for his innocence.
In 2001, Marcellus Williams was convicted and sentenced to death by lethal injection for the 1998 murder of journalist Felicia Gayle, a crime he has consistently denied for the past 23 years.
Felicia Gayle, a 42-year-old reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was found dead in her home on August 11, 1998. She had been savagely stabbed up to 43 times with a butcher knife from her kitchen.
Among the items missing from her home were her purse, jacket, and her husband’s laptop.
In May of the following year, her family offered a $10,000 reward for information that could solve the case. This prompted Lara Asaro, Williams’ girlfriend, and Henry Cole, his prison cellmate, to come forward and accuse Williams of committing the crime.
At the time, Cole had already been released from jail, while Williams, then 30, was serving a 20-year sentence for robbing a donut store.
Cole alleged that Williams confessed to murdering Gayle while they were both incarcerated for unrelated offenses.
Upon informing the police, Asaro claimed that Williams had confessed to the crime and provided details not reported by the media, a point contested by the Innocence Project.
The Innocence Project took up Williams’ case in an effort to clear his name following his conviction.
Williams was charged with first-degree murder, first-degree burglary, robbery, and armed criminal action. During his trial, the jury consisted of 11 white people and only one Black person.
The Innocence Project alleged that Keith Larner from the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office disqualified six qualified Black jurors, with Larner admitting he removed one because he “looked similar” to Williams.
Larner cited similarities such as the Black juror wearing glasses, having “piercing eyes,” and sharing the same complexion as Williams.
Even though Williams’ DNA did not match the forensic evidence at the crime scene, he was found guilty on all counts and sentenced to death.
Just days before his execution, the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office filed a 73-page document stating that no forensic evidence linked Williams to Gayle’s murder.
Despite a joint brief from both county prosecutors and Williams’ defense lawyers, Williams was executed by lethal injection at 6pm (Central Time) on September 24.
Before his death, his attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell, along with the Innocence Project, released a statement.
Part of the statement read: “Missouri is poised to execute an innocent man, an outcome that calls into question the legitimacy of the entire criminal justice system.”
Explaining the rationale behind blocking the motion, Republican Governor Mike Parson stated, per USA Today: “No jury nor court, including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams’ innocence claims.”