After 20 years on death row and three previous death warrants, Troy Anthony Davis was executed by the state of Georgia on Sept. 21.
Millions of people across the world protested the death sentence, petitioning a re-trial and for authorities to review the evidence in favor of Davis.
The Savannah native was convicted of the 1989 murder of Mark MacPhail, an off-duty police officer, but advocates and critics of the trial were concerned an innocent man would be put to death.
In the 1991 trial, seven witnesses testified against Davis, saying they saw him shoot the officer, while two others testified he confessed to the murder. However, the police never recovered the murder weapon. Ballistic evidence from a previous shooting linked Davis to the murder.
On August 1991, he was sentenced to death.
Seven of the nine witnesses eventually recanted their testimonies, admitting they were intimidated by police to speak mistruths at the trial.
Maintaining his innocence, Davis rallied support from around the world with the help of family and supporters.
Former President Jimmy Carter and Archbishop Desmond Tutu publicly expressed their discontent over the case. Others, including former Rep. Bob Barr (R-Ga.) and former F.B.I. director William S. Session, also shared their concerns.
Many advocates believed race was a major factor in the conviction and execution of Davis, since judges stayed the execution of Cleve Foster, a White man who was convicted of the 2002 rape and murder of a woman he met in a Fort Worth bar in 2002.
Additionally, in 2008, two hours before his execution, Samuel David Crowe, a White man who confessed to killing a retail manager, was saved and his sentence was changed to life in prison.
