On Sept. 24, at 6 p.m., an innocent man by the name of Marcellus Williams was wrongfully executed by the state of Missouri. He was put to death by lethal injection for a murder he said he did not commit.
In Aug. 1998, Felicia Gayle, a reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, was the victim of a fatal stabbing during a home burglary. Despite a lack of matching DNA evidence to connect him to the crime, Williams was convicted in 2001.
The only source within the prosecution’s case was two testimonies from unreliable witnesses. Williams was charged with first degree murder, robbery and burglary. He served 24 years in prison before his death.
Across the country, calls to action were made to save this man from death. Organizations, such as the Innocence Project and the NAACP, created social awareness to prevent his death. Campaigns were made, posts were shared, signatures were captured and even the family of the victim pleaded on his behalf, but it wasn’t enough. An innocent man was killed by an inhumane form of punishment.
As Americans, we preach that we are the land of the free, yet a man was wrongfully imprisoned for over two decades. Nothing about that statement screams freedom. This man was punished for a crime that many believe conclusive evidence fails to prove he committed, and he was put to death for it.
The worst part about this story was that his death could have been prevented. Many had pleaded to Missouri Governor Mike Parson to stop the execution, including a testimony from Representative Cori Bush. However, these testimonies were ignored.
Following his death, Representative Bush released this statement:
“The deadly decision to execute Williams came despite urgent pleas from Missourians and people all across the country…Governor Mike Parson didn’t just ignore these pleas and end Williams’ life; he demonstrated how the death penalty is wielded without regard for innocence, compassion, equity, or humanity.”
How do we as humans justify putting someone to death? It is universally and legally agreed that murder is wrong. Why should it be okay for a state to commit such a heinous crime, especially with no physical evidence?
The death penalty is a cruel and outdated form of punishment that the justice system refuses to abolish. As citizens, how are we okay with sitting back and watching the government repeatedly kill the innocent? How many lives must be lost before any actual change happens? Capital punishment gives our government too much power over the lives of its people. No person or entity should have the power or right to take a person’s life. Convicted criminal or not, killing in any form is wrong, and in Williams’ case, it was a person with no substantial evidence against them.
Williams’ final statement was “All praise be Allah in every situation!”
The most heartbreaking part about this story is that when you look up his name in the Innocence Project, there is a timer titled “Time left until execution,” and unfortunately, we ran out of time.
Rest in peace Marcellus Williams.
