ST. LOUIS COUNTY — The Missouri Supreme Court on Friday decided to keep a September execution date for Marcellus Williams, despite a scheduled Aug. 21 hearing to determine if he’s innocent of murder.
Williams is set to die on Sept. 24 for the 1998 fatal stabbing of a ºüÀêÊÓƵ-area woman. His lawyers filed a motion to vacate the execution date because ºüÀêÊÓƵ County prosecutors will argue next month that new DNA evidence clears him.
“While of course we would prefer that this motion before the Missouri Supreme Court had prevailed and there were no longer an execution date looming for Marcellus Williams, our focus is on ... the effort to have our concerns about the conviction of Mr. Williams heard in court,†ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell said in a statement on Friday.
The state high court rejected Williams’ argument that the hearing date was too close to the scheduled execution date.
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“The fact a prosecutor files a motion is not an automatic basis for a stay,†the Missouri Supreme Court ruling said.
Williams was convicted of breaking into the suburban home of former Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle on Aug. 11, 1998, and stabbing her 43 times.
Williams was set to die in August 2017, but hours before his execution, then-Gov. Eric Greitens halted the process and ordered an investigation into DNA evidence that could not be tested at the time of the murder. That evidence showed there was DNA on the knife used to stab Gayle that matched someone else, not Williams.
He appointed five retired judges to investigate.
Six years later, Gov. Mike Parson disbanded the group in June 2023. It’s unclear whether they reached a conclusion.
Williams sued, and the Missouri Supreme Court set his September execution date hours after it ruled Parson was within his rights to break up the board and move forward with the execution.
“We will continue to pursue justice in the circuit court,†Williams' attorney, Tricia Bushnell, said in a statement. “We are confident that any court, when presented with all the evidence—including the DNA evidence—will come to the same conclusion as ºüÀêÊÓƵ County Prosecutor Wesley Bell: that Marcellus Williams is innocent and his conviction must be overturned.â€