St. Louis Co. Prosecuting Attorney Bell proposes allowing prosecutors to stay executions

CLAYTON, Mo. (First Alert 4) - Following the execution of a 55-year-old Missouri man last week, a St. Louis-area public official is proposing top prosecutors should be given more power to temporarily pause executions.

The State of Missouri executed Marcellus Williams last week for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle in University City.

Testimony from a jailhouse informant and the ex-girlfriend of Williams helped convict him, along with Gayle’s stolen items found with Williams.

No evidence directly pointed to Williams being inside of Gayle’s home.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell used a 2021 law to file a motion to vacate Williams’ conviction based on the lack of DNA evidence on the murder weapon, a knife, which was contaminated by the prosecutors who handled the case back in 1998 leading up to the 2001 conviction of Williams.

Bell argues the Missouri legislature and U.S. Congress should give prosecutors the ability to stay executions while appeal processes proceed.

The Missouri Supreme Court allowed Williams’ execution date to remain in place as Williams’ evidentiary hearing proceeded before a St. Louis County judge in August.

“We were running out of time because we couldn’t stay the execution, and so we couldn’t do a thorough investigation as we wanted to,” Bell told First Alert 4. “Give the prosecutor with original jurisdiction at least the ability to stay an execution if there is a motion to vacate. I hope that we’re never executing people, but if you are, you have to do everything in your power to have safeguards to make sure you got it right.”

A St. Louis County judge, the Missouri Supreme Court and the U.S. Supreme Court all upheld Williams’ conviction.

Governor Mike Parson denied Williams clemency.

Bell said his office requested to meet with Parson, but the meeting never happened.

“Had I been able to talk to the governor, we could have walked him through what the evidence actually was,” Bell added.

Governor Parson’s office sent First Alert 4 the following statement:

“We are not aware that Mr. Bell ever reached out wanting a meeting with Governor Parson. We also know that Mr. Bell parroted the same innocence claims as Mr. Williams and his attorneys, all of which had been rejected by the Courts. Our office did meet with Mr. Williams’ attorneys, per our standard practice. Ultimately, Governor Parson concurred with over two decades of judicial proceedings and more than 15 court hearings rejecting innocence and confirming Mr. Williams’ guilt.”