On Sept. 24, Marcellus Williams was killed by lethal injection after being convicted of the murder of Felicia Gayle in 1998, despite the recent evidence leading many to believe he was innocent. Many people are enraged by his execution and doubt the justice system. His death has caused the public, and the media to question the justice system.
In 1998, Felicia Gayle was stabbed to death in her apartment. Two years later, Williams was convicted of her murder. On the knife, there was DNA from 12 people, including Williams’.
The jury that convicted Williams was an all-white jury, which caused many people to argue that there was racial bias during the trial. Another important detail was that both prosecutors were fighting to prove the innocence of Williams. Gayle’s family said that they believed he did not kill Felicia and was an innocent man.
Williams’ lawyers reached out to the Missouri Supreme Court, the Missouri governor, and even the Supreme Court to request to go to a lower court. A lower court is defined as a smaller court where evidence can be reviewed and they would have more time to investigate the case. The lower court appeal was rejected by the courts and the governor. There were 855,565 signatures collected to stop the execution of Williams. Since the signatures were not successful in overruling the execution, many people have lost faith in the current justice system.
