Missouri man executed for womans murder in 1998 despite her familys calls to spare his life

BONNE TERRE, Mo.(AP) — A Missouri man was executed Tuesday for breaking into a woman’s home and killing her, despite calls by her family and the prosecutor’s office that put him on death row to let him serve out the rest of his life in prison.Marcellus Williams, 55, was convicted in the 1998 killing of Lisha Gayle, who was repeatedly stabbed during the burglary of her suburban St.

Louis home.Williams’ hopes of having his sentence commuted to life in prison suffered dual setbacks Monday when, almost simultaneously, Republican Gov.Mike Parson denied him clemency and the Missouri Supreme Court declined to grant him a stay of execution.

The U.S.Supreme Court declined to intervene Tuesday.Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case.

His clemency petition focused heavily on how Gayle’s relatives wanted Williams’ sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole.“The family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live,” the petition stated.“Marcellus’ execution is not necessary.”Last month, Gayle’s relatives gave their blessings to an agreement between the St.

Louis County prosecuting attorney’s office and Williams’ attorneys to commute the sentence to life in prison.But acting on an appeal from Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s Office, the state Supreme Court nullified the agreement.Williams was among death row inmates in five states who were scheduled to be put to death in the span of a week — an unusually high number that defies a yearslong decline in the use and support of the death penalty in the U.S.

The first was carried out Friday in South Carolina.Texas was also slated to execute a prisoner on Tuesday evening.

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