Missouri man facing execution agrees to life without parole in deal with prosecutors

A Missouri man facing a September execution date agreed to plead no contest to murder in a deal with prosecutors.

The agreement, which includes changing Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams’ sentence to life without parole instead of death, came Wednesday as new DNA evidence was announced in St. Louis County Circuit Court.

But the Missouri Attorney General’s Office opposes the deal and is trying to stop it from going forward.

Williams’ Sept. 24 execution warrant has not been rescinded. The Missouri Supreme Court, the U.S. Supreme Court or the governor could intervene.

An evidentiary hearing had been scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Wednesday to try to prove Williams’ innocence in court. Instead, attorneys met behind closed doors.

St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hilton said around 11:20 a.m. that a consent judgment had been reached and that court would convene at 1 p.m.

He said attorneys had been working through the “emotional, trying issue.”

Shortly after 1:45 p.m., Williams, 55, was led into the courtroom.

Matthew Jacober, an attorney for the prosecutor’s office, said evidence in Williams case had not been handled with the proper procedures.

DNA results from the murder weapon have always showed Williams was not a match. But new results showed two investigators were likely contributors to DNA evidence on the knife, meaning the evidence had been contaminated. DNA, Jacober said, had likely been removed and added.

The plea deal had been discussed with the victim’s family and would “bring much needed finality,” Jacober said.

But Andrew Clarke, with the Attorney General’s Office, objected, saying the court did not have authority to accept the consent judgment or resentence Williams.

Judge Hilton said he had reviewed nearly 8,000 pages of documents.

He asked Williams if he had signed the consent judgment.

“I did,” Williams replied.

Hilton agreed to the consent judgment and noted that the victim’s family wants the case to be over, but did not want the death penalty to be carried out.

Resentencing is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Thursday.

The attorney general’s office filed a writ and an emergency stay with the Missouri Supreme Court to halt proceedings later Wednesday.

In January, St. Louis County prosecutors filed a motion to vacate Williams’ conviction, saying no physical evidence tied him to the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle.

A unique Missouri law that went into effect in 2021 allows prosecutors to intervene when they have information that a prisoner might be innocent or “erroneously convicted.”

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office under Andrew Bailey has been particularly hostile toward innocence claims and opposed the case.

‘Blood hungry’

Supporters of Williams attended the court proceedings, and many gathered at a nearby park over the lunch hour.

Among them was Joe Amrine , who was exonerated from Missouri’s death row in 2003.

“Let’s just say about the state of Missouri, they’ve always been blood hungry.”

The attorney general’s office under former Attorney General Jay Nixon argued that even if Amrine was innocent, he should still be executed .

Amrine said he opposes the death penalty because it’s irreversible.

“I’ve been out 20 years and we have made some strides, but we’ve got a long ways to go,” he said. “Any execution to me is cruel and unusual punishment.”

After the hearing concluded Wednesday afternoon, Marcellus Williams’ son said he has felt “all over the place.”

He said he still believes his father is innocent.

“Today, me just being wholeheartedly honest, is not the decision I would have been leaning towards,” he said. “Cause I want a full exoneration.”

“It’s not over.”

Tricia Rojo Bushnell, an attorney with the Midwest Innocence Project, which represents Williams, said evidence does not connect Williams to the murder.

“Marcellus Williams is an innocent man, and nothing about today’s plea agreement changes that fact,” she said in a statement. “By agreeing to an Alford plea, the parties will bring a measure of finality to Felicia Gayle’s family, while ensuring that Mr. Williams will remain alive as we continue to pursue new evidence to prove, once and for all, that he is innocent.”

Long legal fight

Williams was convicted in August 2001, and a series of appeals starting in 2003 were struck down.

He has previously faced execution in both January 2015 and August 2017. Those were halted to conduct DNA testing and further investigation.

After issuing the second stay, former Gov. Eric Greitens appointed a board of inquiry to look into the case.

In June 2023, Gov. Mike Parson lifted the stay and dissolved the board with little explanation. It’s unclear if the board made a recommendation in Williams’ case or not.

The Missouri Supreme Court issued the execution warrant in June despite the case St. Louis County prosecutors filed in January on behalf of Williams.

The Missouri Attorney General’s Office attempted to stop Wednesday’s evidentiary hearing, but the Missouri Supreme Court rejected that motion in late July.

Editor’s note: This story was changed to reflect that the Missouri Attorney General’s Office opposes the consent judgment.