The Killing of Lisha Gayle

When all the evidence pointed toward a murderer's guilt, the media declared him innocent.

Marcellus Williams died by lethal injection in Missouri on Tuesday. He was convicted of the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle “Lisha” Picus by a jury. His death provoked words of outrage from CNN to Ibram X. Kendi and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

“Missouri lynched Marcellus Williams,” said Kendi, the founder of the Center for Antiracist Research at Boston University. Echoing him, the NAACP declared that “Missouri lynched another innocent Black man.” CNN’s Jake Tapper criticized Gov. Mike Parson’s decision to move ahead with the execution. The anchor called it “horrible news” and gave the floor to an attorney who represented Williams to characterize it as a miscarriage of justice.

However, what was largely and at times totally omitted in these reports and declarations is that an overwhelming amount of evidence and facts sealed his fate.

For a little over two decades, Williams had multiple opportunities to prove his innocence. His defense failed each time. Williams even entered into a plea agreement that acknowledged the prosecution had sufficient evidence to find him guilty of murder, though the deal fell apart.

Here is the story of the killing of Lisha Gayle, as proven in court.

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August 11, 1998.

Marcellus Williams killed the engine of the old Buick LeSabre. He stepped out of the car and boarded a bus to University City, a suburb of St. Louis. He was headed for Ames Place, a quiet gated community where he hoped to find a home to burglarize. It would not be his first or last crime.