Stop the state sanctioned murder of Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams

The case of Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, incarcerated on death row in Missouri, and scheduled for execution on September 24 for the murder of Lisha Gayle, reads like a case study of a legal lynching.

Williams, 55, is set to die by lethal injection on September 24 for the 1998 stabbing death of Felisha Gayle inside her home in University City, Missouri. It would be the third execution in Missouri this year and the 14th nationwide.

At Williams’ 2001 trial, the prosecutor excluded Black jurors–one on the basis that because he wore glasses he looked like ‘a brother’ of the accused.

The state ended up rejecting six of the seven potential Black jurors. The final jury consisted of 11 white people and one Black person–the Black population of St. Louis County at the time was 24 percent.

No forensic evidence ties Williams to the crime. He was convicted primarily on the word of two incentivized witnesses who testified against him and who have since died.

One of the witnesses who testified against Williams was a ‘jailhouse snitch’ who claimed that Williams told him he committed the crime while in lockup. The other witness was an ex-girlfriend.

Both witnesses received leniency for other cases and received reward money offered by the victim’s family in exchange for their testimony. They only came forward after the reward money was offered, more than a year after the crime was committed.

The physical evidence did not link Williams to the crime. Footprints and hair samples at the scene did not match Williams.

The murder weapon had no evidence linking him to the crime and was mishandled and tainted by the police and prosecution.

Important documents disappeared from evidence that could have proven prosecutors violated Williams’ rights at trial.

Williams’ court appointed attorney did not adequately represent his client at his trial.

In light of this astounding lack of evidence and violation of his constitutional right to a fair trial, prosecutors from St. Louis county did the obvious: They petitioned the courts to vacate Williams’ death sentence.

Even the victim’s family doesn’t want Marcellus William put to death for the brutal murder of their loved one.

And yet, on September 12, in an unprecedented decision, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton denied a motion filed by prosecutors to vacate Williams’ conviction and death penalty, in effect ruling that the State of Missouri has the right to proceed with his execution despite evidence of his actual innocence and violations of his constitutional rights at trial.

The Republican Missouri State Attorney General AJ Bailey–who stepped in to make sure no deal could be reached to vacate Williams’ death sentence—seems to take a special interest in keeping wrongfully convicted people behind bars and on death row. His office has argued in other recent cases that the state should proceed with executions even where the accused is innocent of the crime.

Republican Governor Mike Parson, a champion of criminalizing abortion, is also staunchly pro-death penalty and has refused to grant clemency for others executed in Missouri this year.

Williams has maintained his innocence for more than twenty years. He has come within hours of execution, most recently in 2017, and has fought to alert the world to the injustice of death row and the entire criminal injustice system.

Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams’ is also a gifted poet, who uses his voice to highlight injustice, comfort the afflicted, and heal traumas.

In a collection of his poetry Perspectives and Emotions, the poem “The Revolutionary Possibilities of Being Alive” reminds us that behind bars

There is life…

to live is a choice–

full of revolutionary and beneficial potential

able to transcend…

because quite simply to be alive demands it.

 

We can still take action to put pressure on the State of Missouri to halt this miscarriage of justice.

The author would like to thank

Missourians Against the Death Penalty

The Innocence Project

Real News Network

For their advocacy and coverage of the Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams case.

Featured Image credit: Innocence Project; modified by Tempest.

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