Williams murder conviction court hearing scheduled for August

A murder conviction court hearing is scheduled for August. 

A hearing has been scheduled for August 21 to determine if Marcellus Williams will have his murder conviction vacated. 

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell sought to have the conviction vacated, despite the Missouri Supreme Court setting an execution date for later this year. 

Williams was sentenced to death for the 1998 murder of former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Felicia Gayle, but Bell maintains that male DNA found on the murder weapon does not match Williams’ DNA. 

Bell released a statement reading, in part, “We are grateful for the court acting so swiftly and giving us a hearing in this important matter of life or death.” Williams is scheduled to die by lethal injection on September 24.