Dana Rieck
BONNE TERRE, Mo. -- Marcellus Williams was executed here Tuesday evening for the brutal 1998 murder of a University City woman.
The 55-year-old man died at 6:10 p.m., nine minutes after a state executioner delivered a fatal dose of the sedative pentobarbital.
"All Praise Be To Allāh In Every Situation!!!" Williams wrote in his final statement.
Prison officials said his last visit was around noon Tuesday with Imam Jalahii Kacem, who was with him when he was executed. His last meal included chicken wings and tater tots.
Williams and his attorneys have maintained he's innocent and in the last two weeks had filed multiple unsuccessful appeals in higher courts in an effort to stay the execution -- including the U.S. Supreme Court, which rejected his appeal shortly before 5 p.m. on Tuesday.
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He was convicted in 2001 of killing Felicia "Lisha" Gayle during a burglary. The former Post-Dispatch reporter was found in her University City home in August 1998 and had been stabbed 43 times.
Supporters who believe Williams is innocent have repeatedly pointed out that no physical evidence connects him to the crime other than a Post-Dispatch ruler and a stolen laptop he sold to a neighbor.
But people who are adamant Williams is guilty point to the prosecutor's two main witnesses, Williams' former cellmate in a St. Louis jail and his ex-girlfriend. Both have since died but testified during his trial that Williams told them separately that he had killed Gayle.
In January, following two decades of unsuccessful appeals, St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell's office filed to vacate Williams' conviction in circuit court, arguing he was innocent based on touch DNA evidence found on the murder weapon. Two unknown DNA profiles were found, lawyers said, and neither one belonged to Williams. They argued those DNA samples proved he was innocent and suggested the DNA on the knife belonged to the actual killer.
But on the eve of the August evidence hearing, Williams' team of attorneys were given DNA test results that shattered their entire argument: The two profiles on the knife were consistent with the trial prosecutor and his investigator -- and both men readily admitted they handled the knife without gloves in 2001.
After hours of closed-door negotiations, while the evidence hearing was supposed to be held, St. Louis County Judge Bruce Hilton accepted an order from Bell's office that set aside his 2001 conviction and allowed Williams to enter a no-contest plea in exchange for life in prison.
Lawyers for Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey appealed and the Missouri Supreme Court ordered Hilton to set aside the no-contest plea and hold an evidence hearing.
About two weeks after that Aug. 28 evidence hearing, Hilton issued a ruling that upheld Williams' 2001 conviction and sentence.
Since then, Williams' attorneys and the Midwest Innocence Project have scrambled to file multiple appeals with the Missouri Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Missouri Court of Appeals Eastern District.
The various claims argued that the trial prosecutor Keith Larner illegally struck at least one potential juror because of his race, that Williams' lawyers were not given enough time in the August evidence hearing to present their case fully, and that prosecutors destroyed evidence in bad faith before the trial.
Another claim to the U.S. Supreme Court asked the judges to review whether Williams' due process was violated when Missouri Gov. Mike Parson broke up a review board before it could reach a conclusion about his innocence.
All of Williams' motions were denied.
Kacem sat next to Williams in the execution room. Williams was lying on a bed, covered by a white sheet up to his neck. He had a mostly grey beard and shaved head.
No one else was in the room.
The drug was administered at 6:01 p.m., according to prison officials.
Williams and Kacem spoke to each other for a few moments, although they could not be heard from the witness room. Kacem continued to speak as Williams closed his eyes.
Williams' feet moved a few times and his chest heaved several times. Kacem continued to talk as Williams found stillness.
He was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m.
No one from victim Felicia Gayle's family attended the execution. They did not provide a statement about the execution.
Williams' son and two of his attorneys could be seen through a window in another witness room.
The Islamic Center of Greater St. Louis was set to pick up Williams' remains.
Parson on Monday also declined his clemency request, which asked instead for life in prison.
"We hope this gives finality to a case that has languished for decades, revictimizing Ms. Gayle's family over and over again," Parson said in a prepared statement on Tuesday. "No juror nor judge has ever found Williams's innocence claim to be credible."
Over 90 protesters gathered outside the prison on Tuesday night.
The demonstration was quiet and calm. Protestors talked quietly among themselves. Some hugged, cried, or even laughed a little. One man shouted Williams' name as loud as he could.
Elyse Max with Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty spoke just before 6. "The world is watching Missouri tonight," Max said. "I'm out of words. This is terrible."
Then local clergy gathered the group for prayer and spiritual remarks.
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