Missouri executes Muslim man amid claims of innocence

The fight to save a Muslim man convicted of murder in the state of Missouri, even though prosecutors said he may be innocent, has ended with the execution of Imam Marcellus Khalifah Williams, according to media outlets.

Williams, 55, was administered a lethal injection at Bonne Terre prison and was pronounced dead at 6:10 p.m. local time (2310 GMT) on Tuesday.

He was convicted and sentenced to death in 2001 for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter who was found stabbed to death in her St. Louis home.

Prosecutors said new DNA evidence revealed that Williams's DNA was not found on the murder weapon. But the state Supreme Court said in its ruling that the DNA came from mishandling of the knife without gloves by an assistant prosecutor and an investigator.

Denying a stay

"This evidence neither shows the existence of an alternate perpetrator nor excludes Williams as the murderer," the state's high court wrote on Monday, denying a stay of execution for Williams.

That message echoed from Missouri Governor Mike Parson after Tuesday's lethal injection was carried out.

"No juror nor judge has ever found Williams’s innocence claim to be credible," said Parson in a statement. "Two decades of judicial proceedings and more than 15 judicial hearings upheld his guilty conviction, thus, the order of execution has been carried out."

Civil rights advocacy groups across the US tried to halt the execution, but were unsuccessful.

More than 60,000 people signed a petition from the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) — the largest Muslim civil rights advocacy group in the US — calling on Governor Parson to stop the execution, but the plea fell on deaf ears.

"By condemning Imam Marcellus Williams to death despite the fact that even the prosecuting attorney has argued that his case was marred by constitutional error and that DNA evidence indicates his innocence, the U.S. Supreme Court and the Missouri court system have committed a grave offense against humanity," said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell in a statement.

"We strongly condemn this heinous and unjust execution, which will stain the reputation of our legal system for years to come," Mitchell continued. "We encourage all American Muslims to pray for Imam Williams."

US Rep. Cori Bush of Missouri posted her disdain regarding Williams's execution on the social media platform X.

"Governor Mike Parson shamefully allowed an innocent man to be executed tonight," said Bush. "We must abolish this flawed, racist, inhumane practice once and for all. Rest in power, Marcellus Williams."