Wed Sep 25 02:50:58 UTC 2024: ## Two Men Executed in US, One Maintaining Innocence
**St. Louis, Missouri and Huntsville, Texas -** Two men were executed on Tuesday in separate incidents, raising the total number of executions in the US this year to 16.
Marcellus Williams, 55, was executed in Missouri for the 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle, a former newspaper reporter. Williams, who had maintained his innocence throughout the legal process, was sentenced to death based on the testimony of a former cellmate and ex-girlfriend, despite the lack of his DNA at the crime scene. The NAACP and British billionaire Richard Branson, who had publicly campaigned for Williams’s release, condemned the execution.
The second execution took place in Texas, where Travis Mullis, 38, was put to death for the 2008 death of his three-month-old son, Alijah Mullis. In his final statement, Mullis expressed regret for his actions and apologized to his son’s mother and family.
The executions have sparked renewed debate over the death penalty in the US, where it is currently legal in 27 states. While 23 states have abolished the death penalty, six others have implemented moratoriums. Despite the ongoing debate, the Supreme Court rejected a last-ditch effort to stay Williams’s execution, and Missouri Governor Michael Parson defended the decision. He stated that “no jury nor court… have ever found merit in Mr. Williams’s innocence claim.”
First Piper 