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The Latest: Groups protest ahead of Missouri execution

This February 2014 photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows death row inmate Marcellus Williams. Attorneys for Williams are asking the Missouri Supreme Court and Gov. Eric Greitens to halt his scheduled execution citing DNA evidence that they say exonerates him. Williams is scheduled to die by injection Aug. 22, 2017, for fatally stabbing former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle during a robbery at her University City home in 1998. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP) This February 2014 photo provided by the Missouri Department of Corrections shows death row inmate Marcellus Williams. Attorneys for Williams are asking the Missouri Supreme Court and Gov. Eric Greitens to halt his scheduled execution citing DNA evidence that they say exonerates him. Williams is scheduled to die by injection Aug. 22, 2017, for fatally stabbing former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter Lisha Gayle during a robbery at her University City home in 1998. (Missouri Department of Corrections via AP)

By Associated Press August 22, 2017 2 min read

ST. LOUIS (AP) – The Latest on Missouri’s planned execution of inmate Marcellus Williams (all times local):

10:40 a.m.

Death penalty opponents are protesting Missouri’s planned execution of an inmate who maintains his innocence.

Missourians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and other groups are organizing rallies and vigils throughout the state ahead of the scheduled 6 p.m. Tuesday execution of Marcellus Williams.

One will take place outside of the Capitol office of Republican Gov. Eric Greitens, whom Williams has asked for clemency.