Death Row Exonerees Call on Missouri to Halt Execution of Marcellus Williams: An ‘Irreversible Travesty That Should Never Be Accepted’

Case update from Sept. 24: Missouri executed Marcellus Williams. 

With less than 50 days remaining until Innocence Project client Marcellus Williams is scheduled to be executed in Missouri, a group of men who have been in his position is urgently calling for the “clear and convincing evidence” of his innocence to be heard in court.

Organized by Witness to Innocence, death row exonerees gathered in Jefferson City, Missouri, on Thursday, to raise awareness about Mr. Williams’ case and call for his wrongful conviction to be overturned. 

Among the speakers was Ray Krone, who was the 100th person exonerated from death row in the United States following DNA testing, which also identified the actual perpetrator in his case.

“I hope the people of Missouri are horrified and will urge [Attorney General Andrew] Bailey to reverse course, to support people with serious innocence claims like Mr. Williams,” Mr. Krone, who spent 10 years on death row, said. “I hope that somehow, our justice system can be for the people, by the people, with liberty and justice for all.”

Mr. Williams has been seeking to prove his innocence throughout the 24 years he has spent on death row. He was wrongly convicted for  the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former reporter with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who was found stabbed to death in her home. The perpetrator left behind considerable forensic evidence, including bloody shoe prints, hair, and trace DNA on the murder weapon, none of which matches Mr. Williams.

Additionally, the prosecution’s case against Mr. Williams was based entirely on the unreliable testimony of two incentivized witnesses.

In January, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion asking the St. Louis County Circuit Court to vacate Mr. Williams’ conviction, stating that the “DNA evidence supporting a conclusion that Mr. Williams was not the individual who stabbed Ms. Gayle has never been considered by any court.”

Mr. Bell urged the circuit court “to begin the process of correcting this manifest injustice by [holding] a hearing on the newfound evidence and the integrity of Mr. Williams’s conviction.”

Last month, the court scheduled a hearing on the evidence for Aug. 21. Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office publicly opposed the hearing, and Mr. Bailey filed an application for a writ of prohibition to block the St. Louis County Circuit Court from reviewing the potentially exculpatory evidence – an effort the Missouri Supreme Court later rejected. Last week, Mr. Bailey told The Associated Press that the criminal legal system “should respect and defer to the finality of the jury’s determination.”

While the hearing is slated to move forward, Mr. Williams’ execution date remains in place.

“I know firsthand what it’s like to be a man on death row,” Joseph Amrine, an exoneree who served more than 15 years on Missouri death row, said at the press conference. “I will never forget 2003, when I was exonerated, and even then, they still wanted to execute me. Can you imagine that? They knew I was innocent but still believed I should be executed.”

Mr. Amrine, one of four death row exonerees in the state, asserted that Missouri “has nothing to gain by killing the wrong person” and urged the attorney general’s office to “change their approach and acknowledge there are human beings impacted by their actions.”

Exoneree Eric Anderson, who was wrongfully convicted in Michigan, where the death penalty does not exist, called on the state of Missouri and the attorney general’s office to recognize Mr. Williams’ innocence.

“To hear that an individual is facing death, and he has overwhelming evidence of his innocence, is mindblowing and is a travesty,” Mr. Anderson said at the press conference. “Marcellus Williams’ life has value and must be saved.”

 

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According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 33 people in Missouri have been exonerated of murder since 1989. Furthermore, 200 people have been exonerated from death row nationwide.

“The execution of an innocent person is an irreversible travesty that should never be accepted as an inevitable outcome,” Herman Lindsey, who spent three years on death row and is now the director of Witness to Innocence, said. “Marcellus ‘Khalifah’ Williams deserves an opportunity to prove his innocence in court. No one should be rushing to kill an innocent man.”  

We have until 6 p.m. on Sept. 24 to stop Mr. Williams’ execution. Here’s how you can help stop this irreversible injustice:

1. Sign the petition to stop Mr. Williams’ execution.
2. Share Mr. Williams’ case on all social media channels.
3. Use your voice — create an Instagram post, reel, or TikTok to share the background on Mr. Williams’ case, the reasons he’s innocent, and all the missteps in this miscarriage of justice, and urge your followers to sign our petition.