With the clock ticking towards his September 24 execution date, Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams is making a desperate final appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. The 55-year-old, convicted of the 1998 murder of former newspaper reporter Felicia Gayle, maintains his innocence in a case that has become a lightning rod for debates on racial justice and due process.
Williams’ legal team filed a petition Wednesday, arguing that Missouri Governor Michael Parson violated their client’s constitutional rights by abruptly terminating a board of inquiry established by his predecessor. The board, formed by then-Governor Eric Greitens in 2017, had been tasked with investigating Williams’ claims of innocence.
“Governor Parson’s actions have created an exceptionally urgent need for the Court’s attention,” Williams’ attorneys stated in court documents. They argue that dissolving the board denied Williams his right to due process, effectively silencing a six-year investigation that could have led to clemency.
Adding fuel to the controversy, the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney recently acknowledged constitutional errors in Williams’ original trial, including the race-based removal of at least one prospective Black juror.
The case has drawn national attention, with the NAACP calling on Governor Parson to halt the execution. In an open letter, NAACP leadership warned that executing Williams, a Black man convicted of killing a White woman, “would amount to a horrible miscarriage of justice and a perpetuation of the worst of Missouri’s past.”
U.S. Representative Cori Bush has also thrown her weight behind Williams, urging Parson to commute the sentence. “Executing Mr. Williams would be a grave injustice and would do serious and lasting harm,” Bush wrote in a letter to the governor.
As the execution date nears, all eyes are on the Supreme Court and Governor Parson. Will they heed the calls for justice and grant Williams a reprieve? Or will Missouri proceed with an execution that critics argue is tainted by racial bias and procedural missteps? The coming days promise to be a crucial test of the state’s commitment to fairness in its application of the ultimate punishment.
