Missouri man executed for murdering a woman in 1998

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

In Missouri, 55-year-old Marcellus Williams died by lethal injection shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court denied his request to intervene. Williams was sentenced to death for killing Lisha Gayle in 1998. The social worker and former newspaper reporter was stabbed more than 40 times during a break-in at her St. Louis home.

His attorney argued that the state Supreme Court should stop his execution due to alleged procedural errors in jury selection and the prosecution's alleged improper handling of the murder weapon.

St. Louis County District Attorney Wesley Bell had attempted to overturn Williams' conviction because of doubts about his guilt.

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

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

Gayle was stabbed 43 times as she came down the stairs. Her handbag and her husband's laptop were stolen.

Last month, Gayle's relatives agreed to a deal between the St. Louis County District Attorney's Office and Williams' lawyers to commute the sentence to life in prison. But after an appeal by Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's office, the state Supreme Court voided the agreement.

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

Both Republican Gov. Mike Parson and the state Supreme Court on Monday rejected Williams' requests to stop his execution.

In Texas, Travis Mullis was scheduled to be executed on Tuesday for the murder of his three-month-old son. Mullis, 38, was sentenced to death for trampling his son Alijah to death in January 2008.

Prosecutors said Mullis, then 21, drove to nearby Galveston with his son after an argument with his girlfriend. Mullis parked his car and sexually abused his son. When the baby began crying uncontrollably, Mullis began strangling his son before removing him from the car and stomping on his head, authorities said.

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

The Associated Press contributed to this report.