Final Words and Execution Details

Mar­cel­lus Williams, 55, was exe­cut­ed by the state of Mis­souri on Tues­day evening. His final eight-word state­ment before his death was “All Praise Be To Allah In Every Sit­u­a­tion!!!” Williams was pro­nounced dead at 6:10 pm after being inject­ed with a fatal dose of pentobarbital.

Doubts About Guilt and Appeals

Williams had been on death row since his 2001 con­vic­tion for the 1998 mur­der of a news­pa­per reporter. How­ev­er, his case had faced numer­ous appeals and raised sig­nif­i­cant doubts about his guilt. Even pros­e­cu­tors had expressed con­cerns about the DNA evi­dence and the integri­ty of his trial.

Attempts to Halt the Execution

Despite the doubts, Mis­souri Gov­er­nor Michael Par­son refused to halt Williams’ exe­cu­tion. The NAACP and U.S. Rep­re­sen­ta­tive Cori Bush had both urged the gov­er­nor to stop the exe­cu­tion, argu­ing that it would be a “hor­ri­ble mis­car­riage of justice.”

The Controversy Surrounding the Execution

The exe­cu­tion of Mar­cel­lus Williams despite the ques­tions sur­round­ing his con­vic­tion has sparked out­rage. Williams’ attor­neys argued that his con­sti­tu­tion­al rights had been vio­lat­ed and that exe­cut­ing an inno­cent per­son would be a “grotesque exer­cise of state power.”