ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. — A death row inmate is scheduled to be executed on Sept. 24 and there are multiple efforts to save Marcellus Khalifah Williams.
He's maintained his innocence for a 1998 murder of Felicia Gayle in St. Louis County.
This isn't the first time Marcellus Williams faced a close call.
In 2017, former Gov. Eric Greitens paused his execution, just hours before the scheduled death and appointed a board to investigate whether he should be granted clemency.
However, Gov. Mike Parson disbanded the board and reinstated the execution.
Now, Williams inches closer to another scheduled death.
Marcellus Williams Jr. prays for a different outcome for his dad.
"I got hope, a miracle happens," he told 5 On Your Side. "I want people to know he has a huge heart, very caring."
Several appeals to Missouri and federal courts were filed to issue a stay.
St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell appealed a decision to vacate Williams' conviction.
On Tuesday, Williams' attorneys asked the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri to reconsider its previous denial of his claim that trial prosecutors unconstitutionally removed Black prospective jurors because of their race.
The next day, Williams' attorneys filed a petition for writ of certiorari and an application for stay of execution in the United States Supreme Court.
Missouri NAACP President Nimrod Chapel Jr. backed the arguments by Williams' attorneys, as they argue racial bias played a role.
Saint Louis University Law Professor Anders Walker weighed in.
"The only hope here is a due process ruling from the federal court saying, 'Whether or not Mr. Williams is guilty, there was racial bias' and that will derail the execution," Walker added.
Parson could also grant clemency, at least 24 hours prior.
"Governor Parson would probably grant clemency if the actual killer came forward and said 'I did it.' Beyond that I think he is ready to execute Mr. Williams," Walker said.
Chapel told 5 On Your Side, they have hope.
"Together, with our faith community, we have faith that Governor Parson will do the right thing," Chapel added.
Even though the victim's family is against the death penalty, Walker said it's too late.
Walker explained, "Victims can weigh in at the sentencing, but the sentence was handed down, it’s scheduled and the victims are sort of out of the picture."
Major decisions are still on the table - days before time is up.
Williams' son said, "You got to make peace with that and if this is the way he going out, we already made peace. I would be a witness to it, the execution. I'll stand there, firm, to show my dad he is not alone. If this is what it comes to and I'm ready for it."
On Monday morning, 24 hours before the execution, oral arguments are happening before the Missouri Supreme Court to argue the appeal by St. Louis County prosecutor.
The national NAACP President Derrick Johnson and Congresswoman Cori Bush have urged Governor Parson to halt the execution.
In a letter, Johnson wrote, “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."
The Council on American-Islamic Relations, the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, called on Parson to block the execution of Imam Marcellus Khalifah Williams.
"We are calling on Governor Parson to immediately halt the execution of Imam Marcellus Khalifah Williams, an innocent man who has spent decades serving God behind bars while being falsely imprisoned for a crime he did not commit,” said CAIR National Deputy Director Edward Ahmed Mitchell. “The DNA evidence proves his innocence, and proceeding with this execution would be a grave miscarriage of justice."