On Tuesday September 24, Marcellus Williams was executed in Missouri after the Governor denied his request for clemency. Williams was convicted of the 1998 brutal murder of Lisha Gayle in her suburban St. Louis home. Over 1.4 million people signed a petition to save his life, and the prosecution and his defense attorney raised several creditable questions about the case. The victim’s family advocated for William’s life, stating “Marcellus’ execution is not necessary”.
In 2023, 24 people were executed in the United States, a number that continues to grow and the most for any nation. I’m not ashamed to admit, I struggle with the concept of Capital Punishment for several reasons. According to The Innocence Project, since 1973, at 200 people have been exonerated from death row in the United States. Most people exonerated are Black or Latinx. Because Capital Punishment is not a perfect system, I often wonder how many innocent people have been the victim of state sanctioned executions. How many people have been executed because their social economic status didn’t allow them to hire well qualified defense attorneys?
As I flipped between CNN and MSNBC for the latest on Marcellus Williams as Missouri prepared to take his life, I wondered where are the “pro-life” organizations? Those who celebrated the overturning of Roe vs. Wade. Those who picket and march outside of Women’s Health facilities. Was Mr. Williams humanity not worthy of their work? Pro-life shouldn’t end at the womb; but should be from the womb to the tomb. A more accurate title would be “anti-abortionist” because they are not holistically “pro-life.”
