On Aug. 11, 1998, Felicia Gayle was found stabbed to death in her home in St. Louis. Forensic investigators found fingerprints, hair, footprints and DNA on the murder weapon. Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams was arrested and sentenced to death for her murder, but the evidence left at the crime scene does not match him. Despite the fact this evidence does not match, and that the prosecuting attorney and the victim’s family all agree that Williams is innocent, the execution is still set for Sept. 24.
The prosecution’s case against Williams was based on unreliable testimony by two people who had been promised reward money and leniency in their own criminal cases. They gave contradictory statements and revealed no information that was not already known by police or media.
Just before an innocence hearing on Aug. 21, a new DNA report revealed that the DNA evidence on the murder weapon was contaminated because the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office handled the knife without gloves before the original 2001 trial. With Williams’ hopes of freedom gone, his lawyers reached a compromise with the prosecutor’s office in which William would take a no-contest plea to first-degree murder and receive life in prison without parole. St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton signed off as did Gayle’s family. However, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a far-right, unelected official, did not. At Bailey’s request, the Missouri Supreme Court stopped the agreement.
The Missouri Attorney General’s Office has a history of pushing for the execution of those found innocent. In 2003, the Missouri Supreme Court asked then-Assistant Attorney General Frank Jung if he was suggesting that, “even if we find that [someone] is actually innocent, he should be executed?” To which Jung responded, “That is correct.”
Dozens of local activists who have been involved in the pro-Palestine movement and the 2014 Ferguson uprising were on the scene to support Williams. In an interview with Liberation News, Jasen Jackson, co-founder of Medical Students for Justice in Palestine said, “The prosecutor responsible for Khaliifah’s incarceration admitted in front of everybody that he excluded Black jurors because of their hairstyle and likeness to the defendant. Missouri is one of 27 states where this form of racial discrimination is still legal. If no action is taken, Khaliifah will join a long list of martyrs who have been killed by this system simply because of their race.”
On Sept. 12, Hilton struck down the attempt to vacate Williams’ conviction, stating, “There is no basis for a court to find that Williams is innocent… Williams is guilty of first-degree murder, and has been sentenced to death.” Following the decision, Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty released a statement “We will not stop fighting until we dismantle this murderous system and ensure no more lives are lost to its brutality.”
Liberation News spoke to a St. Louis attorney who asked to remain anonymous who said, “[The State doesn’t] like to overturn these kinds of things because it calls the entire system into question.” The ruling class knows that the economic and so-called justice system in the United States is illegitimate and they would rather put an innocent Black man to death than let the curtain be pulled back even further.
Click here for information on the Free Khaliifah petition.
Feature photo: Activists spoke at a press conference in support of Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, who is scheduled to be executed Sept. 24. Liberation photo
