Circuit court to review case of man on death row who may be wrongfully convicted

In August, Division 13 of the St. Louis County Circuit Court will consider prosecutor Wesley Bell’s motion to vacate Marcellus Williams’ conviction and death sentence.

Williams was sentenced to death in 2001 for the murder of Felicia Gayle, a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter who was killed in her home during a burglary in 1998.

Bell filed a motion to vacate the conviction in January when new DNA evidence ruled Williams out as a suspect. Despite this, the Missouri Supreme Court scheduled Williams’ execution for Sept. 24.

Previously, Williams was set to be executed for the first-degree murder charge in 2017, but then-Gov. Eric Greitens intervened, staying his execution and ordering a panel of former judges to investigate the credibility of evidence against Williams, Missouri Lawyers Media previously reported. Last year, Gov. Mike Parson dissolved the panel before it could issue its report.

The Midwest Innocence Project — part of the legal team representing Williams — filed a lawsuit on his behalf challenging the Governor’s decision. The Supreme Court of Missouri ruled that the state constitution grants the Governor exclusive authority to grant or deny clemency.

When filing his motion, Bell used a 2021 state law (547.031) that allows a prosecuting attorney to file a motion to vacate the charges “if he or she has information that the convicted person may be innocent or may have been erroneously convicted.”

According to a press release by the Midwest Innocence Project, three independent DNA experts confirmed that Williams is conclusively excluded as the source of male DNA found on the weapon used to murder Gayle.

“This new DNA testing is consistent with other forensic evidence left by the perpetrator —including a bloody shoe print and hairs next to the victim’s body — that also excluded Mr. Williams,” the Midwest Innocence Project said. “His conviction rested on the testimony of two unreliable informants who testified in exchange for favorable treatment in their own criminal cases and for reward money.”

In addition to the lack of DNA evidence and unreliable informants, the Midwest Innocence Project and Bell cite racial bias and ineffective assistance of counsel as factors impacting Williams’ conviction.

“We are grateful for the court acting so swiftly and giving us a hearing in this important matter of life or death,” Bell wrote in a news release.

The hearing is scheduled for August 21 at 8:30 a.m.

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