Death row inmate Marcellus Williams whose death sentence was postponed just HOURS before lethal injection after fresh DNA evidence emerged says his ‘fate is in God’s hands’
Williams, 48, from St Louis, Missouri, was convicted of the 1998 murder of journalist Felicia Gayle, but lawyers say another man's DNA is on the murder weapon.
A MISSOURI man whose death sentence was postponed just hours before lethal injection after fresh DNA evidence emerged says his “fate is in God’s hands”.
In an exclusive interview with the Sun Online, Marcellus Williams's attorney Kent Gipson said he remained "calm" and "matter of fact" when he was granted a temporary reprieve on Tuesday, four-and-a-half hours before his sentence was to be carried out.
Williams, from St Louis, Missouri, was sentenced to death in 2001 for the 1998 murder of journalist Felicia Gayle.
Although he wants to continue the fight against his conviction, he says if he loses and is put to death then "so be it", according to Gipson.
He told the Sun Online: “We got word about 1.30pm in the afternoon and the execution was scheduled for 6pm so it was about four-and-a-half hours before.
“He was remarkably calm and matter of fact about it - the way he always is.
“Being a devout Muslim he’s always urged us to do what we can to fight for him but he believes that what will happen to him is in God’s hands and he repeated something similar to that when I told him the news.
“He’s stayed strong throughout the whole thing - it’s pretty remarkable.
“It’s difficult to imagine what would be going through your mind in that situation.
“But he has always had the same attitude about everything - he believes his fate is in God’s hands and if he’s meant to die then so be it.”
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Williams was sentenced to death back in 2001 after prosecutors said he stabbed tragic Felicia 43 times at her at her home in St Louis, Missouri during a robbery.
Missouri Governor Eric Greitens halted Williams’ execution after Williams’s lawyers argued that new evidence had uncovered another man’s DNA is on the murder weapon.
Gipson believes the new evidence proves his client is innocent “without a doubt”.
He added: “The prosecution’s theory is that someone broke into the victim’s house, she came downstairs and confronted him and he grabbed a knife out of the kitchen and stabbed her more than 40 times and left the knife in her body.
“Kitchen knives are washed and put away after they are used for cooking and whatnot so who else’s DNA would be on it other than the murderer's?
“They detected DNA on the handle of the knife that does not match Marcellus - which I think is pretty conclusive evidence he didn’t do it.”
Gipson also believes race has played a huge factor in the case - and if Williams was white he may not be in the situation he is now.
He said St Louis county, where Williams was tried and convicted, has a history of racial problems.
It is the same county where unarmed black teen Michael Brown was shot and killed by a white police officer in 2014 - which sparked mass protests across America.
“The prosecutors have had a history of striking all of the black jurors trying black defendants and putting them in front of all-white jurors," Gipson said.
“In this case there was one black juror - they struck six of the seven eligible black jurors.
“Statistically I think it’s clear that the prosecution is more likely to go forward and obtain death sentences in cases where caucasians are murdered by other races. The statistics don’t lie - not only in this state, but all over the United States.
“It’s hard to say for sure if he was white he wouldn’t be in this position but given the history of race relations in St Louis and all the other factors it’s probably a factor.
“It’s much more likely that a death sentence will be imposed when a black person kills a white person."
Williams' case has drawn high-profile advocates from the likes of Sister Helen Prejean, a Roman Catholic nun whose story was featured in the movie Dead Man Walking.
She has lobbied for Williams to be granted clemency and urged the public to contact Greitens to stop the execution.
She tweeted this morning: "Marcellus Williams is alive today because many people from around the world saw the injustice he experienced and did something about it."
A board of inquiry will now review the evidence and make a decision on Williams’ fate.
They have to chose between fully exonerating him, overturning his conviction and re-trying him, commuting his death sentence to a life sentence or re-scheduling his death sentence to a later date.
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