Marcellus Williams: Religious leaders support the fight against his execution

from Rev. Dorothy S. Boulware

It's no secret that black people disproportionately occupy death row in the United States—they make up about 14% of the population but 40.05% of the people awaiting execution. And since men make up nearly 98% of death row inmates, incarcerated black men are more likely to be executed by the state than any other group.

One of those men is 55-year-old Marcellus Williams. His execution is scheduled for September 24 in Missouri. The prosecutor in his case has filed a motion to overturn the conviction because there is “overwhelming evidence that the trial of Marcellus Williams was unconstitutional. This includes revelations that the state tampered with the most important piece of evidence in the case – the murder weapon,” said Williams' attorney Tricia Rojo Bushnell. However, the court rejected the motion.

The case has reignited heated debates about racial injustice and the death penalty – and now the state's religious leaders are also joining the fight for a pardon for Williams.

Life instead of death

On Thursday, 69 religious leaders from Christian, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds asked for clemency for Williams in a letter to Missouri Governor Michael Parson.

“We advocate for a life sentence without parole and for Marcellus to remain in prison with the message that his life can continue to be open to redemption, mercy and the healing power of God and that he will continue to serve the Muslim community,” the faith leaders wrote.

The group pointed out that Williams himself is a religious leader at the Potosi Correctional Center, where he is incarcerated. Williams, now known as Khalirfah ibn Rayford Daniels, became an imam and serves his fellow Muslim inmates at the Potosi Correctional Center.

“With the life sentence, Marcellus will have the opportunity to continue his service in the religious community he leads as imam,” the faith leaders wrote.

They pointed out that Williams works with “a group of men, many of whom have been abandoned by society and are in desperate need of guidance and strength” and that he provides “a vital support network for the prisoners”.

Members of the Mid Missouri Fellowship of Reconciliation (Mid-MO FOR), a nonprofit organization for “people of many faiths and no particular faith – all coming together to support nonviolence and justice,” have also called for a pardon for Williams.

On September 18, they held a meeting at the University of Missouri Law School to discuss Williams' case. One of the speakers was Michelle Smith, co-director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, who said, “Killing someone is final. We should make sure as a state, as a community, as a government, that there are no questions.”

The NAACP is also calling on Parson to prevent Williams' execution, pointing out that the death penalty has been “applied in a racially unequal manner throughout history,” particularly in Missouri.

“The killing of Mr. Williams, a Black man wrongfully convicted of killing a white woman, would amount to a horrific miscarriage of justice and a repeat of Missouri's worst past,” NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson and Missouri State Conference President Nimrod Chapel Jr. wrote in an open letter to Parson.

“Simply put, Mr. Williams did not commit the murder for which he was convicted. The prosecutor knows it, and the people of Missouri know it,” they wrote.

Allegations of corruption

In 2001, Williams was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

The prosecution relied on witness testimony and circumstantial evidence. However, the DNA found on the murder weapon did not match Williams – a fact that raises considerable doubts about his conviction.

Despite these findings, the courts in Missouri repeatedly upheld his conviction and death sentence.

According to the Innocence Project, “the state destroyed or tampered with evidence that could have conclusively proven his innocence, and the existing DNA and other forensic evidence from the crime scene does not match him.” The organization notes, “There are far too many uncertainties in this case to allow Mr. Williams to be executed, especially when the victim's family believes that life without parole is the appropriate punishment.”

In January 2024, St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell filed a motion to overturn Williams' conviction after an independent review of his case. However, the district court denied the motion, arguing that there was insufficient evidence of his innocence and that allegations of racial bias in jury selection and inadequate assistance of counsel had been previously ruled on. Bell is now appealing the decision to the Missouri Supreme Court, according to Williams's request for a stay of execution to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We will continue to pursue every possible option to prevent the wrongful execution of Mr. Williams. There is still time for the courts or Governor Parson to ensure that Missouri does not commit the irreparable injustice of executing an innocent man,” Bushnell said.

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