“The struggle for justice doesn’t end with me. This struggle is for all the Troy Davises who came before me and all the ones who will come after me.”
“They say death row, we say hell no!” yelled protestors outside the Jackson, GA prison. People in London, Rome and Paris also protested the planned execution of Troy Davis, convicted in 1991 of killing an off-duty police officer. Some wore “I am Troy Davis” t-shirts.
Amnesty International’s Nicolas Krameyer said “There is too much doubt to execute him.” However at 10:00 p.m., on Wednesday night, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a last ditch request for a stay.
Defiant to the end, Davis proclaimed his innocence saying, “I’d like to address the MacPhail family. Let you know, despite the situation you are in, I’m not the one who personally killed your son, your father, your brother. I am innocent. The incident that happened that night is not my fault. I did not have a gun. All I can ask is that you look deeper into this case so that you really can finally see the truth. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls and may God bless your souls.”
Troy Davis declined to have a special last meal, opting instead for what the rest of the inmates were having — a cheeseburger, potatoes and coleslaw. He confidently declared, “This meal will not be my last.”
Around 10:44 p.m. prison guards injected lethal chemicals–pentobarbital, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride into 42-year-old Davis’ veins. He was pronounced dead at 11:08 p.m.
The case which spanned more than two decades and has increasingly grown controversial, even beyond the U.S., began on August 19, 1989, when Savannah, Georgia police officer Mark Allen MacPhail came to the rescue of a homeless man while working off-duty as a night security guard. MacPhail, who was shot in the face and chest, died of his injuries.
In 1991, nine witnesses testified in court MacPhail was shot by Davis, and he was found guilty of the murder. In the intervening two decades, Davis filed 4 appeals.
Supporters of Davis argued that he was wrongly convicted and that there was too much doubt he was the trigger man. There was no DNA evidence or finger prints and the gun used to shoot MacPhail was never found. More recently, seven of the nine witnesses recanted their testimony or parts of it and some jurors have said, they have doubts about the guilty verdict that they rendered. A man who was with Davis on the night MacPhail was killed, claimed to have told people he actually was the shooter.
Davis’ supporters included a former FBI director, former President Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI.
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), one of the organizations in the forefront of trying to stop Davis’ execution, said it contemplated asking President Barack Obama to intervene, even though he has no jurisdiction to grant clemency.
White House press secretary Jay Carney, in a statement earlier this week said, while Obama “has worked to ensure accuracy and fairness in the criminal justice system,” it would not be appropriate for him “to weigh in on specific cases like this one, which is a state prosecution.”
What a disgrace it is to have dignitaries from other countries speak out about this case and not the President of our country!
It’s a shame how in the land of the free and home of the brave, we send so many people to prison. The criminal justice system is in dire need of a reform. How many more innocent people have to die before it gets reformed?
“When you are looking at someone’s life, you can’t press rewind,” said Martina Correia, Troy Davis’ sister.
After Davis was pronounced deceased, state prosecutors and MacPhail’s family said, justice had finally been served.
