Missouri Death Row Inmate Agrees To New Plea In Deal That Calls For Life Sentence Without Parole
Huff PostJoseph Amrine, who was exonerated two decades ago after spending years on death row, speaks at a rally to support Missouri death row inmates Marcellus Williams on Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024, in Clayton, Mo. — A Missouri death row inmate on Wednesday dropped his innocence claim and entered a new no-contest plea in an agreement that calls for a revised sentence of life in prison without parole. The complicated turn of events happened on the day that St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hinton was supposed to oversee a hearing requested by Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell aimed at vacating Williams’ first-degree murder conviction in the 1998 stabbing death of Lisha Gayle. Parson dissolved the board in June 2023, saying it was time to “move forward.” In addition to Dunn, who spent 34 years behind bars for the death of a 15-year-old St. Louis boy, the Missouri law allowing prosecutors to challenge convictions led to freedom for two other men — Kevin Strickland and Lamar Johnson.