Williams’ execution is set for Sept. 24
The Missouri bishops, other faith leaders and more are petitioning to halt the execution of Marcellus Williams.
Williams, who has maintained his innocence in the 1998 killing of Felicia Gayle, is scheduled to die by lethal injection at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24, at the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre. This is the third execution date set for Williams, with previous dates halted first in 2015 and again in 2017 to allow time for further investigation.
Nearly 70 Christian, Jewish and Muslim faith leaders, including Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, Bishop Mark S. Rivituso and eight priests of the Archdiocese of St. Louis, signed a letter to Gov. Parson asking him to reduce Williams’ sentence to life in prison without parole. Williams, who also goes by the name Khaliifah, is Muslim and serves and the imam at Potosi Correctional Center.
“While we come from different faiths, we believe that all life is sacred, and that redemption and atonement are principles that should be promoted,” the letter said. “We seek now to promote the sacred life of one of our own, a religious leader, and an integral part of the fabric of our community.”
On Sept. 23, Gov. Mike Parson denied clemency to Williams, saying in a news release that the execution will go forward. The Missouri Supreme Court also declined to halt the execution in a decision that day.
Hours before Williams’ death warrant was scheduled to go into effect at 6 p.m., three cases remained pending before the U.S. Supreme Court.
In January, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion to vacate Williams’ conviction, citing new DNA evidence that excluded Williams as the source of DNA on the murder weapon.
Before a hearing scheduled for Aug. 21, further testing showed that the DNA evidence was contaminated because an investigator and a prosecutor had touched the knife without gloves before the original 2001 trial.
On Aug. 21, a consent agreement was reached in which Williams would enter a no-contest Alford plea and have his sentence reduced to life in prison without parole. Gayle’s family also supported this agreement. But Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office challenged the decision, and the Missouri Supreme Court agreed, ordering an evidentiary hearing to proceed on Aug. 28.
On Sept. 12, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton ruled against the motion to vacate Williams’ conviction, issuing a 24-page ruling.
“Every claim of error Williams has asserted on direct appeal, post-conviction review, and habeas review has been rejected by Missouri’s courts,” Judge Hilton wrote. “There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent, and no court has made such a finding.”
Bell’s attempt to vacate Williams’ conviction was based on a 2021 Missouri law that allows prosecuting attorneys to file a motion to vacate a conviction if they believe the inmate could be innocent or was otherwise wrongfully convicted.
“The decision of a prosecutor to move to vacate a murder conviction and death sentence is not done lightly. Prosecuting Attorney Bell filed a motion because there is overwhelming evidence that Marcellus Williams’ trial was constitutionally unfair, including revelations that the State contaminated the most critical evidence in the case — the murder weapon,” Tricia Rojo Bushnell, an attorney for Williams, said in a Sept. 12 statement. “We will continue pursuing every possible option to prevent Mr. Williams’ wrongful execution. There is still time for the courts or Governor Parson to ensure that Missouri does not commit the irreparable injustice of executing an innocent person.”
Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, which receives funding from the national Catholic Campaign for Human Development, is advocating for clemency for Williams.
“This decision is a devastating blow to justice and yet another stain on Missouri’s conscience. Khaliifah remains condemned to death on September 24th, despite significant evidence that points to his innocence,” Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty said in a statement. “It is clear our state continues down a path of reckless disregard for human life, especially Black lives. This is not justice. It is state-sanctioned murder.
“MADP will continue to stand alongside Khaliifah and his family, and we will not cease in our efforts to amplify his innocence and uplift this injustice. We urge the Governor to intervene, and we call on all Missourians to speak out against this scheduled execution of an innocent person.”
The Missouri Catholic Conference is also encouraging the faithful to contact Gov. Parson directly by calling (573) 751-3222 or emailing him through his office contact form at governor.mo.gov/contact-us/mo-governor.
The Church teaches that capital punishment is inadmissible in all cases because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the person.
Missouri has already executed two men, Brian Dorsey and David Hosier, this year. Christopher Collings’ execution is scheduled for Dec. 3. Missouri is one of eight states to carry out the death penalty so far in 2024, alongside Texas, Georgia, Oklahoma, Alabama, Utah, Florida and South Carolina.
Church teaching on the death penalty (updated 2018)
Recourse to the death penalty on the part of legitimate authority, following a fair trial, was long considered an appropriate response to the gravity of certain crimes and an acceptable, albeit extreme, means of safeguarding the common good.
Today, however, there is an increasing awareness that the dignity of the person is not lost even after the commission of very serious crimes. In addition, a new understanding has emerged of the significance of penal sanctions imposed by the state. Lastly, more effective systems of detention have been developed, which ensure the due protection of citizens but, at the same time, do not definitively deprive the guilty of the possibility of redemption.
Consequently, the Church teaches, in light of the Gospel, that “the death penalty is inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and the dignity of the person,” and she works with determination for its abolition worldwide.
Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2267
Advocacy Toolkit
Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, which receives funding from the national Catholic Campaign for Human Development, has put together a clemency advocacy toolkit for Marcellus Williams. The toolkit includes an advocacy petition, social media graphics and sample phone call, email and letter ideas to use when contacting Gov. Mike Parson. To view the toolkit, visit freekhaliifah.org.
Execution Vigil
If Marcellus Williams’ execution continues as scheduled, the Archdiocese of St. Louis will join MADP for a peaceful vigil outside the Eastern Reception, Diagnostic and Correctional Center in Bonne Terre during the execution on Tuesday, Sept. 24. A bus will leave the Cardinal Rigali Center at 4 p.m. that day. To RSVP, contact Marie Kenyon at (314) 792-7062 or mariekenyon@archstl.org.
