A Missouri man is set to be executed over a 1998 killing as numerous groups, including innocence adovactes and the prosecution, say he likley did not committ the crime.
Marcellus Williams, 55, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6pm CT Tuesday for the murder of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former newspaper reporter who was repeatedly stabbed during a burglary of her suburban St. Louis home almost three decades ago.
On Monday, Missouri Governor Mike Parson , a Republican, rejected Williams’ clemency request to spare him from the death penalty and instead sentence him to life in prison.
The Missouri Supreme Court, almost simultaneously, also rejected a request to cancel the execution .
Williams’ lawyers have argued that multiple errors were made during the trial including the prosecution’s alleged mishandling of the murder weapon and alleged procedural errors in jury selection. They claim that a trial prosecutor wrongly excluded a potential Black juror for racial reasons.