The Execution Of Marcellus Williams Should Call Us All To Demand The Death Penalty’s Abolishment

Source: The Innocence Project / The Innocence Project

The execution of the man even prosecutors argued was likely innocent, was carried out at 6:00 p.m. CT, on Sept. 24, at the state prison in Bonne Terre, Missouri. Marcellus Williams , who committed to Islam and served as the Imam on death row unit where he lived, was known to many as Khaliifah ibn Rayford Daniels ‘Abdul-Qudduus. We will refer to him throughout this story as he was referred to in life by those close to him and Muslims: Khaliifah. He was the 100th person killed by an American state or the federal government since 1989–the year some mark as the beginning of the modern age.

Current St. Louis County prosecutor, Wesley Bell, worked with Khaliifah’s defense team–and with the blessing of the family of the murder victim, social worker, and former St. Louis Dispatch reporter, 42-year-old Felicia “Lisha” Gayle. Twice he approached Missouri courts to stop the execution. Initially, the team prevailed and the Court confirmed the family-sanctioned agreement between prosecutors and defense attorneys that would have converted Khaliifah’s sentence to life without parole.

Despite that ruling, along with the documented use of racist bias in the jury selection process, and most critically, the fact that Khaliifah’s DNA was absent from the DNA-and-forensic-rich crime scene, as were his fingerprints from the knife used to stab and cut Ms. Gayle 43 times, means that a conviction and sentence based on the legal bar–beyond all reasonable doubt–should have vacated the outcome of the trial’s outcome in January of 2001; Missouri’s Supreme Court stunningly overturned the lower court’s decision.

Millions of advocates across the nation and world reacted in shock, anger and sadness to the state-sanctioned homicide–one that again starkly highlights, among other failures, the death penalty’s very deadly anti-Black racism.

“Marcellus Williams should be alive today,” Wesley Bell, a local prosecutor who fought for Williams’ innocence said in a statement according to the New York Times . “There were multiple points in the timeline when decisions could have been made that would have spared him the death penalty.”

Williams spent years fighting for his innocence from behind bars, narrowly avoiding execution twice—in 2015 and again in 2017—while his legal team sought additional time to seek justice. Mr. Bell passionately highlighted the multiple violations of Williams’ constitutional rights during the investigation. He raised that Khaliifah’s first counsel failed to present crucial evidence that could have spared him the death penalty (ineffective assistance of counsel), and the prosecution improperly dismissed Black potential jurors (Fifth Amendment violation). In the end, a jury of 11 white and one Black member, was seated.

How has justice been served?

The persistent racism  of America’s death penalty

The death penalty has a long, troubling history intertwined with systemic racism in the U.S. justice system. Black lives have been sacrificed for decades, dating back to the era of slavery, when lynching served as a brutal means of social control against enslaved individuals. The extrajudicial violence was often justified by those committing it as a necessary form of “justice” against Black men, women and children, who had been accused with typically little more than a white person’s accusation.

According to Equal Justice USA, lynching peaked in the aftermath of the Civil War, becoming a horrific tool of terror directed largely at Black Americans. Although the frequency of lynchings decreased in the early 20th century, state-sanctioned executions began to rise, effectively replacing lynching as a means of racial violence. From 1910 to 1950, around 75% of those executed in the South were Black, despite their population being less than a quarter of the region’s demographics.

One of the most chilling examples of this injustice was committed upon George Stinney, the youngest person executed during the era. At just 14 years old, Stinney was sentenced to death by an all-white jury after a mere two-hour trial and just 10 minutes of deliberation for the murder of two white girls. Evidence and testimonies that later emerged clearly pointed to his innocence, and he was posthumously exonerated in 2014—70 years after his execution.

A glimmer of hope came in 1972 when the Supreme Court declared the death penalty unconstitutional due to its biased and arbitrary application. However, following another Supreme Court ruling in 1976, states were given the freedom to revise their death penalty laws. The High Court claimed the ruling in 1976 would create more uniformity in sentencing. It did not.

Black people face the death penalty at a higher rate.

The 1976 ruling failed not only Khaliifah ibn Rayford Daniels Abdul-Qudduus, but an unspeakable number of other Black people since it was handed down. Far from being just or applied equally under the law, fully 40% of those executed are Black , more than three times their presentation in society.

Additionally, just over 1% (1.33) of white defendants who were convicted of killing a Black person, received a death sentence. In cases where the defendant was Black and the victim, white, nearly 20% (19.22) are sentenced to death. And when error is accepted by the Courts in death penalty cases, more than 50% of exonerated death row inmates—100 out of 189—are Black  (as of Jan. 1, 2024). That alone should make each case the subject of particular scrutiny.

The madness must stop. The judicial system is not infallible. Wrongful convictions can and do happen–as we have seen over and over again. The death penalty eliminates any chance of rectifying such errors.

A final indignity. Executions are made to be more painful for Black people.

These state-sanctioned executions are not only profoundly unjust, but studies indicate they inflict significant suffering on Black victims. A report published by Reprieve in April found that Black individuals are 220% more likely to suffer a botched lethal injection compared to white individuals. In the worst sort of real-world terms, it dispels the belief that the choice of lethal injection protocol—whether a one-drug or three-drug method—can reduce the risk of these failed executions.

Regardless of the primary drug used, such as sodium thiopental, pentobarbital, or midazolam, botched executions continued to occur. This finding undermines the common assumption that specific protocols guarantee a more humane process. Alarmingly, the study also highlights the intense suffering experienced by Black individuals in these cases, with more than a third of botched executions lasting over 45 minutes, and over a quarter extending for an hour or longer.

American taxpayers are bearing the financial burden of these egregious executions—and the costs are significant. According to Endeavor, taxpayers each contribute approximately $60,000 to $70,000 per death row inmate to cover death penalty cases. Amnesty USA reported that the total costs for death penalty cases, from sentencing to execution, average around $1.26 million. In contrast, non-death penalty cases, calculated through to the end of incarceration, have a median cost of $740,000.

How are these statistics not raising wide protests? How is ending the death penalty not at the top of every racial justice agenda? How could there have been so much national silence when the courts declined to even review critical investigative findings in Khaliifah ibn Rayford Daniels ‘Abdul-Qudduus’ case–or when the current governor disbanded an investigation before it could be even be completed?

It’s time to join the majority of nations on the planet–and to honor the beliefs of most Americans–by recognizing that the death penalty is a human rights violation and it must be abolished.

Khaliifah ibn Rayford Daniels ‘Abdul-Qudduus deserved the opportunity to have his case of innocence, in the least, properly reviewed. While he was not without flaws, executing him was both cruel and unjust. Denying him a fair trial was a betrayal of American values in a country that prides itself on being “the land of the free.”

His death should be vindicated by our commitment to justice.

See Also:

California Prosecutors Kept Black And Jewish People Off Of Death Row Juries, Cases Under Review, DA Says

‘Continue To Fight’ For Troy Davis: Death Penalty Debate Rages Years After ‘Innocent’ Man Executed

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