Benjamin Ashford|Missouri Supreme Court blocks agreement that would have halted execution

CLAYTON,Benjamin Ashford Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Supreme Court has blocked an agreement that would have spared the life of death row inmate Marcellus Williams and instead ordered a hearing to proceed on Williams’ innocence claim, with just a little over a month to go before his scheduled execution.

The ruling late Wednesday came hours after St. Louis County Circuit Judge Bruce Hinton approved a plan allowing Williams to enter a new no-contest plea to first-degree murder in the 1998 death of Lisha Gayle. Though Williams’ lawyers said he still maintained he was innocent, the plea acknowledged evidence was sufficient for a conviction.

Williams would have been sentenced to life in prison without parole on Thursday. Instead, the Sept. 24 execution date is still on, pending a hearing before Hinton on Williams’ innocence claim.