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Marcellus Williams of Missouri, who was sentenced to death, was executed despite the prosecution’s confessions of innocence.
Williams, 55, was convicted in 1998 of the murder of Lisha Gayle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
His last words were: “All praise be to Allah in every situation!!!” Williams’ imam, Jalahii Kacem, visited him from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Tuesday. He and Williams’ son, Marcellus Williams Jr., were in the execution chamber when officials administered the lethal injection.
His last meal was served at 10:53 a.m. and consisted of chicken wings and hash browns. He was one of four men scheduled to be executed this week. Travis Mullis, a death row inmate in Texas, was executed about an hour later for killing his young son.
Williams’ death is the third execution in Missouri this year and the 15th nationwide.
“Tonight, we are all witnessing Missouri’s grotesque exercise of power in the state,” Williams’ attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell said in a statement. “This should not have been in vain. This must never happen, and we cannot allow it to continue.”
More than a million petitions requesting a stay of execution have been received by the office of Missouri Governor Mike Parson, said WEproject, a nonprofit organization that campaigned against Williams’ death.
Prominent figures, including British businessman Richard Branson and Missouri Democrat Cori Bush, called on Parson to spare Williams’ life.
But neither Parson nor the state Supreme Court intervened, even though Williams filed a clemency petition stating that Gayle’s relatives wanted his sentence commuted to life without parole.
The inmate’s lawyers filed two last-minute motions with the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, both of which were denied before he was executed at 6:10 p.m. CT.
Three justices – Ketanji Onyika Brown Jackson, Elena Kagan and Sonia Maria Sotomayor – rejected the second motion, which focused on new DNA evidence and prosecutors’ claims that Williams may be innocent.
Williams’ lawyers said DNA evidence on the knife used in the attack matched an unknown male profile and did not match Williams. The court declined to hear that claim on Saturday.
“There is no basis for a court to find Williams innocent, and no court has made such a finding,” wrote St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Bruce Hilton. “Williams is guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to death.”
Prosecutor’s officials recently filed a motion to overturn his conviction.
A trial judge granted their request, but Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed the decision. The case was then sent back to the same trial judge, who reversed his original decision.
During his murder trial, Williams’ lawyers described him as a “caring and loving father.” His family members and friends had said his execution would have a “significant impact on his family.”
Before leaving office, Missouri Governor Eric Greiten issued a stay of execution for Williams in 2017. He appointed a commission to investigate the case and recommend a pardon. Governor Parson dissolved the commission after his election in 2023 and lifted the stay.
As prosecutors described Gayle’s murder during the trial, they said Williams broke into her home, heard the shower running and found a large butcher knife. Gayle was stabbed 43 times as she came down the stairs. Williams stole her purse and laptop, officials said.
It was the third time the Missouri Department of Corrections had attempted to execute Williams. In 2015, the state Supreme Court postponed his execution pending further DNA testing. On the second attempt, Greiten granted him a reprieve.
