ST. LOUIS – The man convicted of killing a former Post-Dispatch reporter is back in court Wednesday, trying to stop his execution set for next month.

An evidentiary hearing is set for Marcellus Williams at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday morning in front of Judge Bruce Hilton in Division 13 at the St. Louis County Courthouse. The hearing was originally scheduled to take place on August 22 but never happened after other developments unfolded.

Williams is set to be executed for the crime on September 24th but has always proclaimed his innocence in this case.

St. Louis County Prosecuting Attorney Wesley Bell originally asked for the evidentiary hearing after filing to vacate Williams’ conviction based on DNA evidence that wasn’t available when the murder happened.

The hearing didn’t happen last week as originally planned after questions came up about the integrity of the DNA evidence on the knife used in the killing.

Judge Hilton agreed to vacate Williams conviction, then Williams agreed to a plea deal and entered an Alford plea. This form of plea means Williams maintains his innocence but acknowledges that prosecutors likely have enough evidence to secure a conviction.

By entering the Alford plea, Williams would have likely been sentenced to life in prison without parole but would have avoided execution.

However, Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey opposed the Alford plea deal and went to the Missouri Supreme Court to stop it from happening.

The court agreed with Bailey, saying Judge Hilton either had to have the evidentiary hearing or make a case for why he should be able to move forward with the Alford plea sentencing. After that ruling, Hilton set Wednesday morning’s evidentiary hearing.

Following last week’s dramatic developments, a release from Wesley Bell’s office said they still had concerns about Williams’ conviction, as expressed in their original motion to vacate the conviction filed back in January.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson has also expressed a willingness to consider clemency for Williams.