Marcellus Khalifah Williams: Missouri executes muslim man despite claims of innocence, DNA evidence

Marcellus Khalifah Williams, a Muslim man convicted of murder, has been executed in Missouri on Tuesday despite ongoing efforts to spare him due to claims of wrongful conviction. Williams, 55, was administered a lethal injection at Bonne Terre prison and pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. local time, drawing widespread condemnation from civil rights advocates.

Williams was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter, who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis home. Despite new DNA evidence showing that Williams’s DNA was not found on the murder weapon, the Missouri Supreme Court and Governor Mike Parson allowed the execution to proceed.

“This evidence neither shows the existence of an alternate perpetrator nor excludes Williams as the murderer,” the state’s high court ruled, dismissing a stay of execution.

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Governor Parson echoed this stance, stating, “No juror nor judge has ever found Williams’s innocence claim to be credible.”

Civil rights groups, including the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), campaigned vigorously against the execution, with more than 60,000 people signing a petition for clemency. CAIR’s Edward Ahmed Mitchell condemned the execution, calling it “a grave offense against humanity.”

Missouri Congresswoman Cori Bush also expressed outrage, posting, “Governor Mike Parson shamefully allowed an innocent man to be executed tonight. We must abolish this flawed, racist, inhumane practice once and for all.”

Williams’s execution has reignited debates over the death penalty, especially in cases involving contested evidence and claims of innocence.