DNA evidence has long indicated that Marcellus Williams was wrongfully convicted of the murder of Felicia Gayle. Yet, as the September 24 execution date looms closer, the situation has become increasingly convoluted.
In 2017, this compelling evidence persuaded Gayle’s family and Missouri’s former attorney general to reconsider Williams’s case. Earlier this year, the St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell’s office shifted their stance regarding the 2000 murder conviction and sought to halt the impending execution.
At 54, Williams, who is now a grandfather and identifies as Khaliifah, has steadfastly proclaimed his innocence since 1998. However, Attorney General Andrew Bailey has been unyielding in his pursuit to execute him. Over the weekend, legal motions were submitted to the Missouri Supreme Court contesting a circuit judge’s refusal to vacate Williams’s 1998 murder conviction. On Monday, Williams’s legal team contended that recent revelations from the trial prosecutor—who admitted to dismissing Black jurors—should suffice to overturn the conviction. The attorney general’s office, however, rebuffed these assertions.
Just hours after Monday’s hearing, the judges unanimously upheld Williams’s conviction, permitting the execution to proceed despite an ongoing appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and a clemency petition directed at the governor.
Advocates assert that this case exemplifies the disparities within the justice system in Missouri. They highlight how the state’s policies disproportionately impact Black and impoverished individuals, with Michelle Smith, co-founder of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, stating, “Our roots are very much in that mindset of dehumanizing Black, poor, and brown people.” Smith emphasized that Missouri’s governmental and judicial systems are deeply entrenched in a culture of punishment rather than genuine justice.
According to the National Registry of Exonerations, over half of the 55 wrongful conviction cases in Missouri involved Black exonerees, three of whom were sentenced to death. In the last decade, death penalty cases in the state have “declined dramatically,” with only one unanimous jury decision resulting in a death sentence.
Since last year, Bailey has actively sought to impede the release of exonerees, even advocating for their execution despite overwhelming evidence of wrongful convictions. Williams’s supporters, including Smith, assert that he has become accustomed to this relentless scrutiny.
This isn’t the first time the Missouri Supreme Court has scheduled an execution date for Williams. “He has been through this before—three times,” Smith recalled, referencing the first execution postponement granted in August 2017 then-Governor Eric Greitens.
DNA evidence and testimony from jailhouse informants are pivotal elements in establishing wrongful convictions. Nationwide, 848 individuals have been wrongfully convicted at least in part due to unreliable jailhouse informants and post-conviction DNA tests, with more than half being Black.
Sabrina Smith, a death row exoneree from Mississippi, remarked, “What’s making it so difficult for them to let this guy prove his innocence? It doesn’t make sense to me.” She expressed outrage at the haste with which the U.S. seeks to execute its own citizens, emphasizing the illogical nature of the situation.
Williams’s conviction stemmed from the testimonies of two individuals—a jailhouse informant and an ex-girlfriend—who had their own unrelated criminal charges pending, thus testifying for the prosecution could provide them personal benefits.
During an evidentiary hearing on August 28, the trial prosecutor acknowledged mishandling the murder weapon, inadvertently leaving his DNA behind, and confessed to dismissing Black jurors based on prejudiced assumptions.
On September 12, St. Louis County Circuit Court Judge Bruce F. Hilton determined he would not overturn Williams’s conviction for the fatal stabbing of Gayle in 1998. Madeline Sieren, a spokesperson for Bailey’s office, reaffirmed their position based on Hilton’s ruling, asserting that “Marcellus Williams was never found to be innocent.”
In a unanimous written decision, Missouri Supreme Court Judge Zel M. Fischer echoed this sentiment, stating, “There is no credible evidence of actual innocence or any showing of a constitutional error undermining confidence in the original judgment.”
Judge Hilton’s ruling effectively disregarded DNA evidence from 2016, which indicated that Williams was not the source of DNA found on the murder weapon or the bloody footprints discovered at Gayle’s St. Louis residence.
In 2017, Williams’s execution was postponed while an advisory board, established Greitens, was tasked with reassessing his case in light of new DNA evidence. A 2021 legislative change allowed elected prosecutors to revisit past convictions when allegations of misconduct surfaced. Previously, a legal doctrine from 2016 restricted the release of only those exonerees on death row, leaving individuals like Christopher Dunn—serving a life sentence without parole—wrongfully incarcerated until his release this past July after 34 years.
In June 2023, Republican Governor Mike Parson disbanded the advisory board before it could present its findings or offer recommendations for clemency in Williams’s case. Bailey, appointed Parson in 2023 and currently campaigning for a full term, subsequently established a second execution date.
Sabrina Smith characterized the situation as “political,” highlighting the intersection of governance and justice. Earlier this year, Bell’s office collaborated with the Midwest Innocence Project—representing Williams—to file a motion aimed at dismissing his long-standing conviction. National civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, have launched an online petition urging Governor Parson to intervene.
“There are detailed and well-documented concerns regarding the integrity of Mr. Williams’s conviction,” Bell stated on September 12 following Hilton’s ruling. He noted that while the Gayle family seeks closure, they do not wish for the death penalty to be executed against Williams. “I, along with others who believe that the evidence in this case does not warrant execution, will continue to work to prevent that outcome,” he affirmed.
The execution is scheduled for Tuesday at 6 p.m. local time.
“I am worried, but Khaliifah is not,” Michelle Smith remarked.
During his incarceration, Williams has embraced the role of an imam and has served as a mentor to fellow inmates. “He calls me sometimes to check in to see if I’m okay,” Michelle Smith chuckled, describing the compassion inherent in his character.
Before his imprisonment, Williams was a devoted father to Marcellus Williams Jr., who was in elementary school when his father was incarcerated. Despite the trials of parenting from behind bars, Williams has strived to uphold his responsibilities as a father. Although Marcellus Jr. grew up without his father’s physical presence, their shared faith has fortified their bond, enabling him to pass their family name to his own son.
“His faith has undoubtedly sustained him through these years,” Michelle Smith noted, highlighting Williams’s devout Muslim beliefs amid the challenges he faces alongside 11 other individuals on death row.
