Marcellus Williams escapes execution but will spend life in prison

ST. LOUIS — Marcellus Williams will reportedly avoid execution but serve a life sentence after agreeing to an Alford plea, St. Louis County District Judge Bruce Hilton said in court Wednesday.

An Alford Plea is a guilty plea by a defendant who maintains his or her innocence and is equivalent to a “no contest” plea. It is most often used in a guilty verdict hearing when there is little evidence to support an acquittal.

The guilty plea is a plea agreement between Williams' attorneys and the St. Louis County District Attorney's Office. Under the agreement, Williams will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The original charges against Williams remain unchanged under the guilty plea.

Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office attempted to block the motion, but Judge Hilton overruled the office's objection, saying the settlement was a “proper judgment.” The court is scheduled to hold a formal sentencing hearing at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and give the family of victim Lisha Gayle an opportunity to speak.

The deal announcement came after arguments began on Williams' case before Hilton on Wednesday morning. State's Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion to overturn Williams' 1998 first-degree murder conviction in Gayle's stabbing death.

New DNA evidence linking the knife to someone other than Williams prompted Bell to re-examine the case. However, the murder weapon was “handled without proper procedures and DNA was taken and added between 1998 and 2001.” During the hearing, the law firm said it “regretted” that the weapon was not handled properly during Williams' first trial.

Republican Attorney General Andrew Bailey said in a June court filing that the “evidence for a conviction at trial was overwhelming,” despite the new DNA allegations.

The Missouri Supreme Court set Williams' execution date for June 4 in September, just hours after ruling that Republican Parson was right to disband a panel of inquiry convened by former Gov. Eric Greitens after he blocked Williams's execution, originally scheduled for 2017.

The investigative committee, made up of five retired judges, never made a ruling or reached a conclusion on whether the new DNA evidence exonerated Williams. Parson dissolved the committee in June 2023, saying it was time to “look forward.”

Johnathan Shiflett, a spokesman for Parson, said the governor would “carefully consider the issue of pardoning Mr. Williams, as he has done with all other death penalty cases during his administration, but no decision has been made.” Parson, a former county sheriff, has presided over 11 executions and has never issued a pardon.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.