A Missouri death row inmate has launched a flurry of appeals ahead of his scheduled September 24 execution date, maintaining his innocence in the 1998 murder of St. Louis newspaper reporter Felicia Gayle.
Marcellus Williams, 55, has several avenues remaining that could halt the impending execution.
He has an appeal before the U.S. Supreme Court , asking whether he can claim his due process rights were violated when Missouri governor Mike Parson dissolved a board a previous governor set up in 2017 to consider whether Williams deserves clemency.
Separately, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, which previously struck a deal for Williams to avoid a death sentence, has appealed before the Missouri Supreme Court to reverse a recent lower court decision upholding Williams’s conviction and scheduled execution.
Finally, Williams also has a clemency petition before Parson, which points to wishes from some of Gayle’s family members that the execution be canceled.
“The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,” the petition, obtained by the Associated Press, reads . “Marcellus’ execution is not necessary.”