A death row inmate in Missouri who has long claimed his innocence and is scheduled to be executed in less than one week asked the US Supreme Court on Wednesday for a stay of execution, arguing his due process rights were denied during the yearslong legal battle to save his life.

Taking the life of Marcellus Williams would be an unequivocal statement that when a white woman is killed, a Black man must die. And any Black man will do,” read a part of the organization's letter.

The St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney will appeal to the Missouri Supreme Court a ruling upholding Marcellus Williams' conviction and sentence.

Williams was still set to die by lethal injection next week for the 1998 murder of former Post-Dispatch reporter Felicia “Lisha” Gayle in 1998.

NAACP calls on Missouri's Gov. Mike Parson to halt the execution of Marcellus Williams, a Black man on death row, citing racial bias and lack of evidence.

The Supreme Court petition is the latest legal action Marcellus Williams’ team is pursuing to save his life. They also have a clemency application before the governor and a separate federal motion.

The president of the NAACP is urging Missouri's governor to halt the execution of Marcellus Williams scheduled for Tuesday, writing that executing a Black man who says he was wrongfully convicted would amount to a “horrible miscarriage of justice.

Missouri corrections officers drenched an inmate with pepper spray and ignored his pleas for help for four hours, responding only when his screaming stopped as he died in the Tipton Correctional Center,

The NAACP is urging Missouri Governor Mike Parson to stop the scheduled execution of Marcellus Williams on Tuesday (September 24), Essence reports. Williams, now 55, was convicted in 1998 of killing former newspaper reporter Felicia Gayle.