Missouri executed a man on death row on Tuesday, despite objections from prosecutors who sought to have his conviction overturned and have supported his claims of innocence.
Williams was convicted of the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former St Louis Post-Dispatch reporter.
He was days away from execution in January 2015 when the Missouri state supreme court granted his attorneys more time for DNA testing.
In January, Wesley Bell, the Democratic prosecuting attorney in St Louis who has championed criminal justice reforms, filed a motion to overturn Williams’s conviction.
None of that physical evidence can be tied to Mr Williams,” his office wrote, adding: “New evidence suggests that Mr Williams is actually innocent.”
Missouri congresswoman Cori Bush said the state had failed Williams, adding: “We have a moral imperative to abolish this racist and inhumane practice.”
And Bell said: “Marcellus Williams should be alive … This outcome did not serve the interests of justice.”. »
