On September 21st, Troy Davis was executed by the state of Georgia.
In 1991, Troy Davis was convicted of the 1989 murder of police officer Mark Macphail and sentenced to death. Davis maintained his innocence the entire time.
He gathered a large international support base including prominent people such as Jimmy Carter, Al Sharpton, representatives from the European Parliament, and Pope Benedict XVI. Over 600,000 people from across the world signed petitions and demonstrated against his execution. The president of the Georgia state conference of the NAACP stated about Troy Davis’ execution, "This is a modern-day lynching if it's allowed to go forward."
There was never physical evidence that linked Davis to the murder and his conviction was based off of testimony by witnesses. Seven of the nine witnesses have come out to say that their testimonies were falsified and that the police coerced them into making false statements.
Sylvester "Redd" Coles, one of the only two witnesses that haven’t recanted their testimonies, was the other prime suspect in the case and owned the same kind of gun that killed officer Macphail.
While talking about the Davis case, Rev. Jesse Jackson stated, “This is more than just reasonable doubt. This is substantial doubt.”

Troy Davis was on death row for twenty years and in that time had three other execution dates that were stayed each time. His fourth and finally execution date was on September 21st, 2011. The execution was scheduled for 7pm but was delayed so the Supreme Court could review his petition requesting a stay of his execution. After several hours the Supreme Court denied his request. His execution began at 10:53pm and he was pronounced dead at 11:08pm. Troy Davis’ last words were:


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. I ask my family and friends to continue to fight this fight. For those about to take my life, God have mercy on your souls. And may God bless your souls.