A Missouri man on death row for the brutal 1998 murder of a woman in her home was executed Tuesday, setting off a series of executions in several states over the coming days.
In Missouri, Marcellus Williams, 55, died by lethal injection shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to intervene. Williams was being executed for the murder of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former newspaper reporter who was stabbed more than 40 times during a robbery in her St. Louis home in 1998.
The lawyers argued that the state Supreme Court should stay the execution because of errors in jury selection and the prosecution's mishandling of the murder weapon.
St. Louis County Prosecutor Wesley Bell had sought to have the sentence vacated, citing doubts about Williams' guilt.
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Marcellus Williams, 55, was executed Tuesday for the 1998 murder of a social worker. (Missouri Department of Corrections via The Associated Press)
Gayle, 42, is a social worker and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Prosecutors at Williams' trial said he broke into her home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard noises in the shower and found a large butcher knife.
Gayle was stabbed 43 times as she went downstairs, and her purse and her husband's laptop were stolen.
Last month, Gayle's family approved a deal between the St. Louis County Prosecutor's Office and Williams' defense team to reduce his sentence to life in prison, but the state Supreme Court vacated the agreement following an appeal by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office.
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Joseph Amrin, who was exonerated 20 years ago after spending years on death row, speaks at a rally in support of Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams on Aug. 21, 2024, in Clayton, Missouri. (Associated Press)
Republican Gov. Mike Parson and the state Supreme Court on Monday separately rejected requests to avert Williams' execution.
Travis Mullis was scheduled to be executed in Texas on Tuesday for the murder of his 3-month-old son. Mullis, 38, was on death row for stomping to death his son, Alijah, in January 2008.
According to prosecutors, Mullis, who was 21 at the time, drove to a Galveston neighborhood with his son after a fight with his girlfriend. Mullis stopped the car and sexually assaulted the boy. After the toddler began crying, Mullis began choking him, took him from the car and stomped on his head, authorities said.
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The child's body was found on the side of the road. Mullis fled Texas but turned himself in to authorities in Philadelphia. One of Mullis' lawyers, Sean Nolan, said he had no plans to appeal the sentence before the execution.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
