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Missouri and Texas both execute convicted murderers

Vaseline September 25, 2024

Both Missouri and Texas put inmates to death on Tuesday, part of a series of executions that began last week and are expected to continue in the coming days.

A Missouri man sentenced to death was executed for the brutal murder of a woman in her home in 1998, marking the beginning of a series of executions in several states in the days that followed.

Marcellus Williams, 55, died by lethal injection shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request to intervene. Williams was put to death for the 1998 murder of Lisha Gayle, a social worker and former newspaper reporter who was stabbed more than 40 times during a burglary of her St. Louis home.

His lawyer argued that the Supreme Court should halt his execution because of alleged procedural errors in jury selection and the prosecution’s alleged misuse of the murder weapon.

SOUTH CAROLINA PRISONER DIED BY LETHAL INJECTION, ENDING STATE’S 13-YEAR BREAK IN EXECUTIONS

Marcellus Williams, 55, was executed Tuesday for the 1998 murder of a social worker. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP)

St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell sought to vacate Williams’ sentence, citing questions about his guilt.

Gayle, 42, was a social worker and former reporter for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Prosecutors at Williams’ trial said he broke into her home on Aug. 11, 1998, heard the shower running and found a large butcher knife.

Gayle was stabbed 43 times when she came downstairs. Her bag and her husband’s laptop were stolen.

Last month, Gayle’s family members gave their blessing to an agreement between the St. Louis County District Attorney’s Office and Williams’ attorneys to commute the sentence to life in prison. But acting on an appeal from the office of Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey, the state Supreme Court overturned the agreement.

BIPARTISAN GROUP OF TEXAS LEGISLATURERS DEMANDS EXECUTION OF CONVICTED MURDERER BE STOPPED: ‘SERIOUS DOUBTS’

Joseph Amrine, who was acquitted twenty years ago after spending years on death row

Joseph Amrine, who was exonerated 20 years ago after serving years on death row, speaks at a rally in support of Missouri death row inmate Marcellus Williams on August 21, 2024 in Clayton, Missouri. (AP)

Republican Gov. Mike Parson and the state Supreme Court both rejected Williams’ request Monday in an attempt to prevent his execution.

In Texas, Travis Mullis was pronounced dead at 7:01 p.m. in the state prison in Huntsville for killing his 3-month-old son. Mullis, 38, was sentenced to death for stomping his son Alijah to death in January 2008.

Prosecutors say Mullis, then 21, drove his son to nearby Galveston after an argument with his girlfriend. Mullis parked his car and assaulted his son. After the baby began crying uncontrollably, Mullis began choking his son before pulling him from the car and stomping on his head, authorities said.

The child’s body was found on the side of the road. Mullis fled Texas but surrendered to authorities in Philadelphia. One of his attorneys, Shawn Nolan, said he did not plan to file any further appeals before the execution.

He told the appeals court that Mullis had been treated for a “serious mental illness” since he was 3, that he had been sexually abused as a child and that he was “severely bipolar.” The U.S. Supreme Court has banned the death penalty for people with intellectual disabilities, but not for those with serious mental illness.