Let’s be honest with ourselves: the battle to save the life of Marcellus “Khalifah” Williams ended well before his death.
The state of Missouri executed Williams, 55, by lethal injection on Sept. 24. He had been convicted in 2001 for the 1998 killing of Felicia Gayle. He maintained his innocence to the end, and members of Gayle’s family said they opposed the execution. Ahead of the execution, activists rang the office of Gov. Mike Parson to register their dismay, protested outside the prison and, of course, lit up social media with pleas to save Williams’ life.
None of it was going to make a difference. The system was designed to come to this conclusion, Capital B reports.
Williams’ fate was sealed by the complicated legal system and state politicians who exhibited what seemed like animus toward people who had been exonerated of their crimes.
It’s a fate The Innocence Project, a legal group that investigates the cases of imprisoned people who say they aren’t guilty of the crimes they’re serving time for, says was unwarranted. The group reported that “there is no reliable evidence proving” that Williams was responsible for Gayle’s death. The state had corrupted evidence that could prove he wasn’t the killer and DNA from the murder scene didn’t match, Innocence Project reported.
That wasn’t enough for Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, who had a history of trying to keep exonerees in prison and sometimes advocating for their executions, and Gov. Parson.
Bailey’s office was responsible for setting Williams’ death date. In June of last year, Parson disbanded an advisory board that had been set to investigate Williams’ case and make a recommendation. Weeks before Williams’ execution, his trial prosecutor admitted mishandling the murder weapon and dismissing Black potential jurors from the jury pool. And on Sept. 12, a St. Louis County circuit judge said he wouldn’t overturn Williams’ conviction and sentence.
Missouri received an assist from Williams’ last legal resort, the U.S. Supreme Court, which has been less inclined than ever to favorably consider the pleas of people on death row since the 2016 election of former President Donald Trump, who cemented the court’s rightward turn by appointing three conservative justices. The Court declined to stop Williams’ execution.
“It’s all political,” Sabrina Smith, a death row exoneree who works with Witness to Innocence, a group working to abolish the death penalty, told Capital B.
For more coverage on Marcellus Williams, visit our partners at Capital B and The Kansas City Defender.
