Marcellus Williams, a Missouri man convicted of the 1998 murder of a newspaper reporter, was executed on Tuesday despite claims of innocence. Efforts to stop the execution, including requests from his attorneys and the prosecutor’s office, were denied by the governor and the Supreme Court. Williams was executed at a prison in Bonne Terre and pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. local time, with the Innocence Project calling it an execution of an innocent man.
Williams’ attorneys argued about the unfairness of his 2001 trial, stating that his DNA was not found on the murder weapon and that the trial was racially biased. The trial prosecutor admitted that a Black juror was dismissed based on race, and new DNA evidence excluded Williams as a contributor to the DNA on the murder weapon. The prosecution mishandling of the evidence was also a point of contention.
Despite these arguments, the Supreme Court rejected Williams’ appeals, saying there was no credible evidence of actual innocence. Prior to his execution, a deal was reached to spare Williams from execution in exchange for life in prison without parole, but this was overruled by the state Attorney General and the state Supreme Court.
Critics, including U.S. Rep. Cori Bush and the NAACP, condemned the execution as flawed and racist, calling for an end to the death penalty. This was the third time Missouri attempted to execute Williams, with previous stays in 2015 and 2017. Despite evidence suggesting his innocence, Williams was executed, leading to calls for justice reform in the state.
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