The Missouri Court of Appeals held a hearing on Marcellus Williams’ claim of innocence on Wednesday, August 28. Williams, who is scheduled to be executed on September 24 for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, has maintained his innocence throughout the process of his legal defense. Though an evidentiary hearing earlier this week briefly gave him hope of reducing his sentence to life without parole, the court found that the lack of DNA evidence did not materially affect the outcome of his initial trial. As a result, Williams’ execution date of September 24 has once again been scheduled.
The evidentiary hearing of August 21 found that due to improper handling by the prosecutor’s office, the murder weapon used to kill Felicia Gayle had no traces of Williams’ DNA. As a result, the lower court judge allowed Williams to renegotiate his sentence to life without parole. The Attorney General’s office appealed the decision, however, and the Supreme Court of Missouri held that the lower court lacked the authority to accept a new plea. Now that Williams’ innocence claim has been rejected, his only remaining legal avenue of avoiding execution is a grant of clemency from the Missouri governor.
The Catholic Church is strongly opposed to the death penalty because it disregards the sanctity and dignity of human life. If you would like to contact Governor Parson regarding Mr. Williams’ execution, you can reach his office via phone at (573) 751-3222 or email him here.