- CAIR is urging Missouri Governor Michael Parson to stop the September 24 execution of Imam Marcellus “Khalifah” Williams, based on DNA evidence.
- The Missouri Supreme Court continues to advance with the scheduled execution.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is urging Missouri Governor Michael Lynn Parson to halt the scheduled September 24 execution of Imam Marcellus “Khalifah” Williams, a death row inmate wrongfully convicted.
Imam Williams, a 55-year-old African American Muslim and the Imam of his prison unit, is scheduled for execution by lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Bonne Terre, Missouri, after local courts dismissed the county prosecutor’s plea to vacate his conviction. This plea was based on DNA evidence that exonerated Williams and on constitutional violations during his 1998 trial.
In 2017, DNA testing “conclusively exonerated” Williams when then-Governor Eric Greitens intervened to halt his execution after forensic results revealed the presence of DNA from an unidentified individual on the murder weapon. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell later moved to overturn the conviction, citing mishandling of the alleged murder weapon during the trial.
CAIR issued the following statement:
"Despite these revelations and evident constitutional infractions, Judge Bruce Hilton rejected the motion to overturn Williams' conviction and death sentence. The Missouri Supreme Court, however, continues to advance with the scheduled execution.
We are calling on Governor Parson to immediately halt the execution of Imam Marcellus Khalifah Williams, an innocent man who has spent decades serving God behind bars while being falsely imprisoned for a crime he did not commit," declared CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. "The DNA evidence proves his innocence, and proceeding with this execution would be a grave miscarriage of justice."
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