Death Penalty

The family of Marcellus Williams has reported receiving death threats since the state of Missouri executed him on Tuesday. A representative of his son said the threats were made via phone calls, emails and anonymous social media messages.

St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell unsuccessfully sought to halt Marcellus Williams’ execution earlier this week.

Marcellus Williams had always maintained that he had nothing to do with the stabbing death of a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter. State and federal courts rejected numerous last-minute requests to halt the execution and review the case.

Without intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court, Marcellus Williams will be executed after 6 p.m. Tuesday.

Williams is scheduled to be executed Tuesday for the 1998 killing of Felicia Gayle. His attorneys have launched multiple legal battles in an attempt to save his life.

The judges’ order comes despite the fact that St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell has filed a motion to throw out the conviction because he no longer believes Marcellus Williams is guilty.

A diverse group of people tried to stop Dorsey’s execution, but both the courts and Gov. Mike Parson declined to halt his death sentence.

The St. Charles County Republican joined several of his colleagues calling for Gov. Mike Parson to commute Dorsey’s sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

More than 150 people have called for Gov. Mike Parson to grant Brian Dorsey clemency — including corrections officers, Republican state representatives, jurors, and the Missouri Supreme Court judge who upheld Dorsey’s conviction and death sentence in 2009.

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