How would Missouri’s next governor handle the death penalty after Williams execution?

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A day after the execution of Marcellus “Khaliifah” Williams, the Republican nominee for Missouri governor wouldn’t say whether he supported or opposed the execution, leaving in doubt how he would approach the death penalty if elected.

Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe’s campaign dodged questions from The Star about whether he supported Gov. Mike Parson’s decision to deny clemency for Williams. The campaign vowed to “uphold the rule of law” when asked about potential changes to the death penalty.

Meanwhile, Democratic House Minority Leader Crystal Quade’s campaign was sharply critical of Williams’ execution, calling it “a disgrace.” Her campaign said the state’s current use of capital punishment was flawed and that she would support legislation to abolish the death penalty.

The decision to move forward with Tuesday’s execution of Williams, who maintained his innocence in a 1998 killing, has renewed focus on the state’s use of the death penalty. Parson has rejected every clemency application in a death penalty case that has come across his desk since becoming governor in 2018, totaling 12 applications.

Parson terms out of office in January and voters will elect his successor on Nov. 5, raising questions about how Missouri’s next governor would handle death penalty cases. Whoever wins would wield significant influence over how the state would carry out capital punishments.

Kehoe and Quade secured their party’s nominations in the August primaries, setting up a showdown for governor in the November general election. Republicans hold every statewide office in the state and Quade faces an uphill battle.

A spokesperson for Republican Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe did not directly answer questions from The Star on Wednesday about whether he supported Parson’s decision and whether he would support any changes to the state’s use of capital punishment.

“Lt. Gov. Kehoe recognizes that weighing the facts and judgments involving capital punishment cases is one of the most difficult and consequential responsibilities of the role of governor,” spokesperson Gabby Picard said in an emailed statement.

Picard added that, as governor, Kehoe would “always uphold the rule of law and respect the integrity of the judicial system.”

Parson appointed Kehoe as lieutenant governor in 2018 after Kehoe previously served in the state Senate. Kehoe won election to a full term in 2020.

A spokesperson for Quade, first elected to the Missouri House in 2016, criticized the decision to move forward with Williams’ execution, specifically pointing to Parson’s move to dissolve a board tasked with looking into Williams’ innocence claim.

“There were serious concerns that Marcellus Williams may have been innocent, as the prosecutor argued, and Governor Parson’s refusal to pause the execution and his dismantling of the review committee examining Mr. Williams’ innocence is a disgrace on Missouri,” Quade spokesperson Andrew Storey said in an emailed statement.

Storey added that the current system of capital punishment was flawed, pointing to “more and more examples of innocent lives that are taken by our government.”

“Unlike the current administration, which has let political pressure influence clemency decisions, when elected governor, Minority Leader Quade will always make decisions by reviewing the individual details of each case,” Storey said.

In a follow-up email, Storey said that Quade would support legislation to abolish the use of the death penalty in favor of life without chance of parole.

Michelle Smith, co-director of Missourians to Abolish the Death Penalty, implored citizens to know who they are voting for because “these people make decisions that affect life and death, as we’ve seen with Marcellus ‘Khaliifah’ Williams’ case.”

Smith went on to say that she hopes Kehoe, who is Catholic, would adhere to Catholic beliefs that oppose the death penalty and added that voters should consider his “non-statement” on the death penalty when they go to the polls.

Lora McDonald, executive director of the social justice organization MORE2, said it was difficult to conceive that anyone claiming to be Christian would support an execution when there is even a remote possibility that the person is innocent “or just period.”

The criminal justice system, she continued, has too many flaws and pointed to exonerations from death row. Four people with death sentences have been exonerated in Missouri, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

She also said she interprets Kehoe’s support of the rule of law to mean that he is OK with putting someone to death.

Executions ramp up in Missouri

Williams’ execution on Tuesday was the third this year in Missouri. One more is planned for Dec. 3.

Williams was convicted in 2001 of killing Felicia Gayle, a former St. Louis reporter. His execution faced widespread opposition, including from the St. Louis County Prosecutor’s Office, and no forensic evidence linked him to the crime.

He was convicted primarily on the word of two witnesses who testified that he had confessed to them. One of them later led authorities to Williams’ vehicle, where some of Gayle’s belongings were found.

Parson defended his decision to deny clemency, saying no jury nor court “including at the trial, appellate, and Supreme Court levels, have ever found merit in Mr. Williams’ innocence claims.”

Missouri is one of 27 states that have the death penalty, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, or DPI, a national nonprofit that analyzes capital punishment.

Governors in six of those states — Arizona, California, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Tennessee — have placed a hold on executions. In several others, the death penalty is still on the books but it has not been used in decades, including Kansas, which saw its last execution in the 1960s.

Eight states have executed people this year.

Gwen Grant, president and CEO of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, said that the next governor of Missouri must take a strong stance against the death penalty, calling it a system that is “fundamentally flawed and disproportionately harms African-Americans.”

Williams’ execution, she said, highlighted “the deep injustices inherent in this process.”

“Far too many innocent people have been executed, eroding public confidence in our justice system,” she said. “I urge the next governor to prioritize truth and fairness over finality and to work toward abolishing the death penalty in Missouri.”

Missouri has ramped up its use of the death penalty in recent years. The state recorded one execution in 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020 and 2021. Two executions were conducted in 2022 and four people were executed last year, according to the DPI.

Nine men remain on death row in the state, the Missouri Department of Corrections said. Missouri uses lethal injections in its executions, which are carried out at a prison about an hour south of St. Louis.

When asked whether Quade would grant any of those men clemency — or place a hold on executions altogether — Storey said she would “approach each case individually, taking the necessary time and energy to fully vet each case.”

Kehoe’s spokesperson, Picard, did not respond to two follow-up emails asking to clarify his stance on capital punishments and whether he would grant clemency to the nine people on death row.