The Missouri Supreme Court and Gov. Mike Parson have declined to halt Tuesday’s execution of a death row inmate prosecutors say may be innocent, leaving his fate in the hands of the US Supreme Court with less than 24 hours to go before he is scheduled to die by lethal injection.

Williams is set to be executed Tuesday for the 1998 killing of Felicia Gayle, a crime that he has always denied any role in. His attorneys have launched multiple legal battles in an attempt 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.

A man convicted of the murder of a store clerk is to be put to death by lethal injection in South Carolina on Friday, one of five executions scheduled to be carried out in the United States over the next week.

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.

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 inmate with innocence claim appeals to Supreme Court ahead of September 24 execution - Marcellus Williams, 55, avoided execution at last minute in 2017

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.