Missouri Considering Marcellus Williams Case Day Before Scheduled Execution

The Missouri Supreme Court is set to hear last-minute arguments on Monday to consider the death row case of Marcellus Williams, just one day before his scheduled execution.
Oral arguments are set to take place Monday morning before the Missouri Supreme Court as Williams’ attorneys fight to halt his execution. The 55-year-old inmate is scheduled for lethal injection on Tuesday evening for the 1998 stabbing of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and a former journalist in suburban St. Louis.
Despite being convicted, Williams has consistently maintained his innocence. However, last week, Williams agreed to a no-contest plea, opting for a life sentence without parole and dropping his claim of innocence.
The execution, if carried out, would be Missouri’s third this year and the 15th in the United States.
However, the case has drawn attention due to DNA evidence that has cast doubt on Williams’ conviction. DNA evidence has been central to Williams’ defense, even prompting a stay of execution in 2017 by then-Governor Eric Greitens. Greitens’ stay was based on testing that found no trace of Williams’ DNA on the murder weapon, but further inquiries stalled, and a special judicial panel formed to review the case failed to reach a consensus.
More recently, St. Louis County’s current prosecutor, Wesley Bell, raised further doubts, asking the court to reconsider the case last month.
In addition, Williams’ attorneys have since filed an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court and a clemency request before Governor Mike Parson that focuses largely on how Gayle’s relatives want the sentence commuted to life in prison without parole.
Newsweek reached out to the St. Louis County prosecutor’s office via email for comment.
Monday’s hearing comes after the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) last week also urged Parson to intervene to halt Williams’ execution, highlighting the racial dynamics of the case—Williams is Black, while Gayle was white.
Parson has so far granted clemency in none of the 11 executions during his tenure as governor.
Last month, an evidentiary hearing was expected to be held to reassess Williams’ guilt. However, the effort was complicated by new revelations that key DNA evidence may have been contaminated by law enforcement handling.
This prompted Williams’ plea deal proposal, under which Williams would avoid execution in exchange for a life sentence. Gayle’s family supported the deal, but the Missouri Supreme Court, at the urging of Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey, rejected it and ordered Judge Bruce Hilton to proceed with an evidentiary hearing, which took place on August 28.
Hilton reaffirmed the conviction and death sentence earlier this month, stating that all of Williams’ appeals have been thoroughly considered and rejected.
“Every claim of error Williams has asserted on direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas review has been rejected by Missouri’s courts,” Hilton wrote in his ruling. “There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding.”
The clemency petition, spearheaded by the Midwest Innocence Project, hinges on Gayle’s family’s wishes. They argue that executing Williams would not bring them closure. “The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,” the petition reads.
Despite this, Parson, a former sheriff, has yet to signal any willingness to halt the execution.
This article includes reporting from the Associated Press.