In 1998, a reporter named Felicia Gayle was found in her home stabbed to death in St. Louis, Missouri. In 2005, Marcellus Williams was convicted of Gayle’s murder despite the lack of his DNA at the crime scene. Williams spent two decades on death row after his conviction in the early 2000s. The U.S. Supreme Court denied the request for a stay and on September 24th, he was executed by lethal injection.
There were various objections to Williams’ execution. A Missouri prosecutor, Gayle’s family, and a petition from the Innocence Project gained an estimated 1.2 million signatures to stop his execution. But it did not seem to be enough for his case to be looked at once again and stop his wrongful punishment. Many people are outraged by the predicament. But this is not the first time that someone has been wrongfully executed. This is a constant pattern in America’s justice system, and Williams’ story is only one of many examples of this very scenario.
The pattern of wrong convictions has cost the lives of many innocent people. It is not something new in America. And this is something we should be upset about. Constant stories of those who have been wrongfully executed are not scarce. One famous case of a wrongful execution is Carlos DeLuna, a Hispanic man who was convicted of a fatal stabbing in 1983. DeLuna was executed in 1989, despite there being a large possibility that he was the ‘wrong’ Carlos and another man who looked like him committed the crime he was accused of. There are other cases like Williams’ and DeLuna’s; Many people who were most likely innocent, being punished for things they were most likely not guilty of. Cases like Joseph O’Dell, who was executed in 1997, or Leo Jones who was executed in 1998.
It is clear the American justice system is flawed. But the question to ask ourselves is if the death penalty should be completely abolished. A question like this has a complicated answer. There are other options, such as life without parole. But there are also crimes so heinous that an execution seems to be the best option. More regulation and thorough checks of cases certainly could help prove innocence to those on death row, but even this does not guarantee that every life will be saved. Alternatively, getting rid of the death penalty completely stops this from happening again, but violent and unspeakable crimes done to others might not be properly dealt with. This debate has been a simmering topic in America for years, as there is no right or wrong answer.
One thing is certain, the system needs to change. Without acknowledging the problems, we as are no closer to finding solutions. Ignoring the problem is no longer an option; there has been far too much blood on at the hands of those in charge. The terrifying idea that there could be others who will face the same fate as Marcellus Williams is extremely likely. Right now, as a country, the best thing we can do is to be aware of the problem and fight for change.
