BONNE TERRE, Mo. (AP) — Marcellus Williams, a 55-year-old Missouri man, was executed on Tuesday following his conviction for the brutal 1998 murder of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Williams was found guilty of breaking into Gayle’s home in suburban St. Louis and stabbing her 43 times during the burglary.
Despite appeals from Gayle’s family and the prosecuting attorney for the state to commute his death sentence to life in prison, Williams was put to death. His clemency petition highlighted the victim’s family’s request for his sentence to be changed, stating, “The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live. Marcellus’ execution is not necessary.” The prosecutor expressed that the death sentence should be reconsidered in light of the family’s wishes.
Moments before his execution, Williams was seen interacting with a spiritual advisor, moving slightly beneath a white sheet. After a brief pause, he exhibited no further movement. His son and two attorneys were present in a separate room, but no one from the victim’s family attended.
In a statement released by the Department of Corrections, Williams expressed: “All Praise Be to Allah In Every Situation!!!” Missouri Governor Mike Parson commented that he hoped the execution would bring closure to a case that has haunted Gayle’s family for decades. He added, “No juror nor judge has ever found Williams’ innocence claim to be credible.”
Many groups, including the NAACP, criticized the execution, calling it a miscarriage of justice. NAACP President Derrick Johnson remarked, “Tonight, Missouri lynched another innocent Black man.” This execution marked the third time Williams faced the death penalty; previous attempts were halted in 2015 and 2017. However, this time, his appeals were swiftly denied by Parson and the Missouri Supreme Court, followed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene shortly before his execution.
In the months leading up to the execution, Gayle’s family had agreed to a deal that would allow Williams to be sentenced to life without parole in exchange for a no-contest plea to first-degree murder. This plea does not admit guilt but is treated as such for sentencing. However, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office intervened, prompting the state Supreme Court to nullify this agreement. After an evidentiary hearing, Judge Bruce Hilton ruled on September 12 that both Williams’ conviction and death sentence would remain intact, a decision later upheld by the state Supreme Court.
Prosecutors argued that Williams committed the crime after breaking in, finding a butcher knife, and attacking Gayle when she came downstairs. Evidence suggested he attempted to conceal his identity by wearing a jacket to cover blood on his shirt and later sold Gayle’s stolen laptop. Testimonies from his girlfriend and a fellow inmate, who claimed Williams confessed to the crime, were used to substantiate the prosecution’s case, although Williams’ defense highlighted discrepancies, such as evidence that did not match his DNA.
Concerns regarding jury selection also arose. Williams’ legal team pointed out that only one out of the twelve jurors was Black, with the prosecutor removing six of the seven prospective Black jurors. Keith Larner, the prosecutor, defended the jury selection process as fair, despite criticism that it reflected racial bias.
This execution adds to the ongoing discussion about the death penalty in the U.S., which has seen a decline in usage and public support over recent years. Williams was the third inmate executed in Missouri this year and the 100th since the state reinstated the death penalty in 1989.
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AP writer Mark Sherman contributed from Washington, while Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri.
