Missouri Supreme Court blocks agreement that would have halted execution

This undated booking photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows Marcellus Williams.

(Missouri Department of Corrections via AP, File)

Updated 9:22 AM CDT, August 22, 2024

CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has blocked an agreement that would have spared the life of death row inmate Marcellus Williams and instead ordered a hearing to proceed on Williams’ innocence claim, with just a little over a month to go before his scheduled execution.

The ruling late Wednesday came hours after St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hinton approved a plan allowing Williams to enter a new no-contest plea to first-degree murder in the 1998 death of Lisha Gayle. Though Williams’ lawyers said he still maintained he was innocent, the plea acknowledged evidence was sufficient for a conviction.

Williams would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday. Instead, the Sept. 24 execution date is still on, pending a hearing before Hinton on Williams’ innocence claim.

That hearing had originally been scheduled to begin Wednesday. St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell had asked the judge to vacate Williams’ murder conviction based on DNA testing that found other DNA — but not that of Williams — on the knife used to kill Gayle.