Family: Man facing death did not kill

ST. LOUIS, June 14 (UPI) -- The family of a man facing execution in Missouri hopes to save him by having as many supporters as possible call the governor's office.

Reginald Clemons, 37, has been on death row since his 1993 conviction as an accomplice in the 1991 deaths of sisters Julie and Robin Kerry, who were raped and then forced off the Chain of Rocks Bridge, a pedestrian span across the Mississippi River in St. Louis, along with their cousin, Tom Cummins, who survived. The sisters were 19 and 20 at the time.

Supporters held a rally Saturday at Lane Tabernacle CME Church in St. Louis, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.

"It's been a tremendous fight -- it's been a long fight," his stepfather, Reynolds Thomas, said. "We've been under fire for a long time, but we're still standing. ... We haven't stopped believing."

A federal appellate court put Clemons' execution, which had been set for Wednesday, on hold pending the outcome of a challenge to Missouri's lethal injection protocol.

One co-defendant, Marlin Gray, was put to death in 2005. Antonio Richardson is serving a life sentence and Daniel Winfrey was given a 30-year term in the case.

Clemons' family says he was not convicted of the actual killings although he was present. His supporters, who include actor Danny Glover, contend there was police misconduct in the case and that Clemons received an inadequate legal defense.