The state of Missouri is scheduled to execute Marcellus Williams this evening despite significant indications he was wrongfully convicted. On Monday, Missouri’s Supreme Court and Governor Mike Parson declined to halt the scheduled killing even though St. Louis’s top prosecutor, Wesley Bell, said in a January filing that “new evidence suggests that Mr. Williams is actually innocent.” The prosecutor, the jurors and the murder victim’s family are all against the execution.

DNA found on the murder weapon did not match Williams, but instead matched another man. Williams, who is African American, was convicted in 2001 of killing former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle, who was white, during a robbery. He was convicted by 11 white jurors and one Black juror, after the prosecution was allowed to preemptively strike out six other prospective Black jurors. Last week, Democratic Congressmember Cori Bush spoke about the case on the House floor.

Rep. Cori Bush: “I am urging Governor Parson not to let another innocent man be murdered at the hands of the state. He must heed this call. And as a proud co-sponsor of the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act, Congress must also act. Let’s end this racist, this flawed and inhumane practice once and for all. Save the life of this innocent man.”