The NAACP has issued an emergency call to Missouri’s Republican Gov. Mike Parson to stop the execution of Marcellus Williams, a Black man on death row who has consistently maintained his innocence.
In an open letter, NAACP President Derrick Johnson and Missouri State Conference President Nimrod Chapel Jr. warned that executing Williams would be a “horrible miscarriage of justice” and a reflection of Missouri’s troubled racial history.
“Taking the life of Marcellus Williams would be an unequivocal statement that when a white woman is killed, a Black man must die. And any Black man will do,” Johnson and Chapel wrote.
Williams, now 55, was convicted of the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter. However, significant doubts have been raised regarding his guilt, as no physical evidence links Williams to the crime scene. A statement from the St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office indicated that footprints, hair samples, and fingerprints found at the scene do not match Williams. DNA evidence on the murder weapon also excludes him as the source.
In 2017, then-Gov. Eric Greitens paused Williams’ execution and established a special board to review the case, which spent six years investigating whether clemency should be granted. However, upon taking office, Parson disbanded the board and reinstated Williams’ execution. Williams’ defense team argues the move violated his due process rights since the board never completed its review.
“The Board investigated Williams’ case for the next six years — until Gov. Parson abruptly terminated the process,” his defense team stated in court documents.
They claim that the governor’s actions have violated Williams’ constitutional rights and have created an urgent need for the U.S. Supreme Court’s intervention.
Further concerns about Williams’ conviction include racial bias during the original trial. St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell highlighted issues, such as removing a potential Black juror due to race.
“These would be key issues for the Board of Inquiry’s consideration in whether to recommend clemency instead of execution — if the governor had not wrongly dissolved the Board,” the documents state.
Despite the concerns, a judge recently denied a motion to vacate Williams’ conviction, leaving his legal team scrambling for another option before the scheduled execution on Sept. 24.
U.S. Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) has also intervened, sending a letter to Parson urging him to spare Williams’ life.
“We are urging you to immediately commute Mr. Williams’ sentence and halt his execution,” Bush wrote, describing the execution as a “grave injustice” that would leave a lasting scar.
The NAACP’s letter to Parson highlighted Missouri’s troubling history of racial violence and the racially discriminatory application of the death penalty.
A 2015 study by the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill found that homicides involving white female victims in Missouri are nearly 14 times more likely to result in execution than those involving Black male victims.
The study also revealed that 81% of individuals executed in Missouri were convicted of killing white victims, even though white victims make up less than 40% of all murder victims in the state.
“Execution of Marcellus Williams would not be seen as just punishment for a crime. It would not be viewed as Missouri being ‘tough on crime,’ being ‘a law and order’ state, or any other bumper sticker political rhetoric,” Johnson stated. “Instead, taking the life of Marcellus Williams would be an unequivocal statement that when a white woman is killed, a Black man must die. And any Black man will do.”
The NAACP said Parson must intervene and stop the execution.
“Gov. Parson, you have the power to prove that Missouri is better than its ugly history of racism and unspeakable treatment of its Black residents. The NAACP urges you to do the right thing – stop the execution of Marcellus Williams,” the letter stated. “Public confidence in the justice system is restored, not undermined, when a prosecutor is accountable for a wrongful or constitutionally infirm conviction.”