US: Missouri Executes Man on Death Row for 1998 Killing of Woman Despite Her Family’s Calls To Spare His Life
A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a woman's home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victim's family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison.
Bonne Terre, September 25: A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a woman's home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victim's family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death sentence commuted to life in prison. Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted in the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was stabbed during the burglary of her suburban St. Louis home. Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case.
His clemency petition focused heavily on how Gayle's relatives wanted Williams' sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.
“The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,” the petition stated. “Marcellus' execution is not necessary.” As Williams lay awaiting execution, he appeared to converse with a spiritual adviser seated next to him. Williams wiggled his feet underneath a white sheet that was pulled up to his neck and moved his head slightly while his spiritual advisor continued to talk. Then Williams' chest heaved about a half dozen times, and he showed no further movement. Williams' son and two attorneys watched from another room. No one was present on behalf of the victim's family. The Department of Corrections released a brief statement that Williams had written ahead of time, saying: “All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!” US Shocker: Boy Walking Home From School Assaulted, Forced To Lick Shoe of Teen Bullies in California’s Bakersfield, Accused Arrested After Disturbing Video Goes Viral.
Missouri Executes Marcellus Williams on Death Row
Republican Missouri Gov. Mike Parson said he hoped the execution brings finality to a case that “languished for decades, revictimising Ms. Gayle's family over and over again.” “No juror nor judge has ever found Williams' innocence claim to be credible,” Parson said in a statement. The NAACP had been among those urging Parson to cancel the execution. “Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man,” NAACP President Derrick Johnson said in a statement. It was the third time Williams faced execution. He got reprieves in 2015 and 2017, but his last-ditch efforts this time were futile. Parson and the state Supreme Court rejected his appeals in quick succession Monday, and the US Supreme Court declined to intervene hours before he was put to death. US Shocker: Mystery Man Gets Naked, Masturbates in Front of 6 Women, Manhunt Launched.
Williams was among death row inmates in five states who were scheduled to be put to death in the span of a week — an unusually high number that defies a yearslong decline in the use and support of the death penalty in the US. The first was carried out Friday in South Carolina. Texas also executed a prisoner on Tuesday evening. Williams was the third Missouri inmate put to death this year and the 100th since the state resumed use of the death penalty in 1989.
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