Troy Davis was murdered at 11:08 EST on Sept. 21. According to several eyewitnesses at the prison in Jackson, Ga., Davis looked at the family of Officer Mark MacPhail while he was strapped to a gurney and spoke. “I did not have a gun. I did not personally kill your father, son and brother. I am inncocent,” Davis said.
He also spoke to the individuals who were responsible for executing him and said, “May God have mercy on your souls, may God bless your souls.”
His execution began at 10:53 p.m. ESTand he died 15 minutes later.
Davis was scheduled to be executed at 7 p.m. on Sept. 21, but 30 minutes prior to the scheduled execution, the U.S. Supreme Court prevented Georgia officials from executing Davis while they reviewed briefs from the prosecution and the defense.
After three hours, the public was notified of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the execution.
On the morning of the scheduled execution, Davis’ lawyers attempted to have their client take a polygraph test, but prison guards would not allow them to take the device into the prison. They also appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court for a stay of execution to no avail.
Thousands of protestors traveled to Jackson, Ga. to hold vigils and rally against the execution.
According to reports, Officer Mark MacPhail responded to a call about a homeless man being pistol-whipped in the parking lot of a Burger King restaurant. During the trial, witnesses claimed that Davis was with Sylvester Coles when he ordered the homeless man to give him a beer. As MacPhail approached, prosecutors said Davis shot MacPhail.
Davis’s case has received international attention because there is a woeful lack of evidence to definitively determine he is guilty of the murder. There was no DNA or fingerprint evidence that connected Davis to the crime, a murder weapon was not found, and seven of the nine witnesses have recanted their testimony. There are also witnesses who say that Coles admitted to killing MacPhail on several occasions.
More than 600,000 signatures were collected in support of stopping the execution. –amir shaw
