Lawyers seek Supreme Court intervention hours before a Missouri inmate’s planned execution

Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Lawyers for a Missouri man have filed a late appeal with the U.S. Supreme Court alleging there were racial bias and constitutional errors at his trial. Marcellus Williams is scheduled to be executed Tuesday evening. He has long maintained that he’s innocent in the 1998 killing of social worker Lisha Gayle, who was repeatedly stabbed during a burglary of her suburban St. Louis home. His hopes of having his sentence commuted to life in prison suffered setbacks Monday when Gov. Mike Parson denied him clemency and the Missouri Supreme Court declined to grant him a stay of execution. Attorneys for the 55-year-old Williams filed motions late Monday challenging the state Supreme Court’s decision.