Missouri is About to Kill an Innocent Black Man, and No One is Stopping it.
UPDATED 12:06 PM 8/23/2017: On Tuesday, August 22nd, Missouri Governor Eric Greitens stayed the execution of Marcellus Williams in order for his case to be reviewed by a Gubernatorial Board of Inquiry. The executive order was announced less than 30 minutes after petition starter Staci Pratt of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty hand delivered the Change.org petition calling off the execution to the Governor’s office, along with allies from the NAACP and a group of supporters.
The petition for Marcellus will remain open until Williams’ death sentence is fully commuted, following the Board of Inquiry’s review.
Originally Published on 8/22/2017:
In Missouri, one is fourteen times more likely to be sentenced to death for murdering a white woman than for murdering a black man. This seems to be true even in cases when it’s possible that the accused did not commit the murder — like that of Marcellus Williams.
Williams is a black man who has been sitting on Missouri’s death row for nearly two decades. In 1998 he was convicted of the murder of reporter Felicia Gayle, a white woman who was stabbed to death in her own home. The knife used to kill Gayle contained no traces of Williams’ DNA. In fact, no physical evidence links Williams to the crime at all.
Yet today, he will pay the price for it — by means of execution.
Williams was convicted as a result of two testimonies given one year after Gayle’s death. Both of the witnesses were sought out by the prosecutor’s office. One of them was Williams’ ex-girlfriend Laura Asaro who struggled with drug addiction, the other Henry Cole, who had a criminal history himself. Both testimonies, as referenced in Williams’ Writ of Habeas Corpus, have been referred to as “inherently unreliable.”
Notably, the prosecutor for Williams’ case was Bob McCulloch, the same man who refused to indict the police officer responsible for killing Michael Brown. Williams’ conviction has led many to argue that this is another powerful example of racial disparities in the criminal justice system.
For Williams, constitutional protections aren’t enough. The Sixth Amendment necessitates the assistance of counsel for the accused, but only during trial. This means that after being convicted, inmates are not necessarily entitled to the advocacy of any legal professionals — which perhaps explains why up until the very recent creation of the Missouri Capital Habeas Unit last month, Marcellus was relying on pro bono legal advocacy and the very limited resources of Missouri’s Public Defender’s office to fund sparse DNA testing.
It wasn’t until last month — 19 years after Williams’ conviction — that his DNA and that on the knife used for the murder were thoroughly examined and cross evaluated by a lab. That report, concluding that, “there is a clear exclusion of Marcellus Williams from both knife handle samples,” was provided to Missouri’s Supreme Court. On Tuesday, the Court refused to review that report. They did not provide a reason why.
Another murder that took place in Missouri merely three weeks prior to Gayle’s in 1998 so closely resembles that of Gayle’s, that legal and forensic professionals suggest the knives used to kill Debra McClain and Felicia Gayle be cross examined. The DNA on the knife used to fatally stab Gayle does not match Williams, but many believe it will match that on the knife used to kill McClain — linking McClain’s murderer to Gayle’s death, and further clearing Williams from the crime he was for which he was convicted.
Onlookers are disturbed by several elements of this case: Williams’ potentially wrongful conviction, the state of Missouri’s decision to ignore crucial new evidence, the likely execution of yet another innocent black man, and the fact that very few people are aware that this is happening at all.
Staci Pratt, Executive Director of Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty, is one of those few people — and she’s taking action. Formerly the Legal Director at ACLU, Staci started a petition on Change.org to stop the execution of Marcellus Williams, and to bring his story into the public eye. Since she started the petition, it has gained the support of over 151,000 people from within Missouri and beyond.
Recent news on Charlottesville has perhaps understandably overshadowed this story, but it is important that seemingly smaller stories such as these not be drowned out completely. What is happening to Marcellus Williams is directly connected to the racial tensions plaguing various pockets of our nation, and his supporters are demanding that it be given the attention it deserves.
You can sign this petition if you agree and want to help advocate for Marcellus. And if you’re looking for additional ways to fight for criminal justice across the country, you can sign up to be a Change.org member to support the work we do.
