Marcellus 'Khaliifah' Williams was executed in Missouri on Tuesday evening despite claims of innocence and opposition from the victim's family, jurors, and even the prosecutor's office that had initially convicted him. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a stay of execution hours before his death.
at Potosi Correctional Center. Hours before the execution was set to take place, the U.S. Supreme Court denied the stay of execution, with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown Jackson, dissenting.
In 2003, Williams was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of social worker and reporter Felicia Gayle in the suburbs of St. Louis. Williams allegedly robbed the woman, then stabbed her to death, hiding her purse and husband’s laptop in the trunk of his car.
A clemency petition to the governor soon followed, as well as a petition calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to review Williams’ case and stay his execution. Lawyers also alleged that Williams’ jury was racially uneven. They wrote in a filing that the state used most of its peremptory strikes to block out six of seven potential jurors who were Black. During a last-ditch hearing on Monday, though, Michael J.
The governor also rejected the defense’s claims regarding DNA evidence, claiming that “DNA technology and testing before trial did not examine ‘touch DNA,’ based on standard techniques and practices at the time.” He added: “Mr. Williams’ attorneys chose to muddy the waters about DNA evidence, claims of which Courts have repeatedly rejected.” He also stated that Williams’ girlfriend never asked for reward money, and claimed that Williams threatened her should she go to the police.
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