On September 24, 2024, Marcellus Williams was executed by lethal injection at the Missouri state prison in Bonne Terre shortly after 6 p.m. Williams, convicted in 2001 of the murder of former newspaper reporter Felicia Gayle in 1998, maintained his innocence for decades. Despite appeals citing potential racial bias in jury selection and DNA evidence that didn’t link Williams to the crime, efforts to halt the execution were rejected by Missouri Governor Mike Parson, the Missouri Supreme Court, and the U.S. Supreme Court.
St. Louis Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell expressed concerns over Williams’ execution, stating, “Even for those who disagree on the death penalty, when there is a shadow of a doubt of any defendant’s guilt, the irreversible punishment of execution should not be an option.”
Williams’ final statement, handwritten before his scheduled execution, read: “All Praise Be to Allah in Every Situation!!!”
His attorney, Tricia Rojo Bushnell, also condemned the decision, stating, “Missouri is executing an innocent man. That is not justice. And we must all question any system that would allow this to occur.”
Bushnell further added, “Tonight, we all bear witness to Missouri’s grotesque exercise of state power. Let it not be in vain. This should never happen, and we must not let it continue.”
Before his death, Williams consumed his last meal of chicken wings and tater tots and was visited by Imam Jalahii Kacem, who accompanied him to the execution room.
