Condemned cop killer Troy Anthony Davis was put to death at 11:08 p.m., local time, in the death chamber at Georgia Diagnostic and statistics prison in Jackson, Georgia.
Davis spent 22 years on death row for the shooting death of Savannah police Officer Mark PacPhail in 1989.
According to state witnesses, when asked if he had anything to say, Davis raised his head, looked at the MacPhail family and said, “I am sorry for your loss.”
Before prison nurses began the administration of the lethal drug cocktail, Davis said to prison officials, “For those about to take my life, may God have mercy on your souls.”
He told MacPhail’s 22-year-old son and Uncle, “I did not take your son, father, brother. I did not have a gun.”
To his family and supporters, Davis said, “look deeper into this case so you can really find the truth.”
As the anesthesia coursed into his veins, Davis yawned and blinked twice before losing consciousness. Nurses then administered a muscle relaxant to cease his breathing, followed by potassium chloride to stop his heart. The entire process lasted about 15 minutes.
Earlier that evening, Davis declined both his final meal and the Ativan sedative intended to “calm” him before execution.
Davis maintained his innocence until the very end. That’s not unusual for death row inmates, according to a group of former death row wardens.
“While most of the prisoners whose executions we participated in accepted responsibility for the crimes for which they were punished, some of us have also executed prisoners who maintained their innocence until the end,” the wardens wrote in a press release. “It is those cases that are most haunting to an executioner.”
Davis’ case became a symbol for anti-death penalty supporters around the world. A large crowd of Davis supporters, including local rapper Big Boi, stood vigil across the street the prison gates. The vigil was peaceful for the most part.
Just after 7 p.m., word filtered through the crowd that Davis had been granted a stay by the U.S. Supreme Court. The crowd erupted in jubilant celebration. But the information was erroneous. Davis’s execution was only temporarily delayed until the U.S. Supreme Court could hear final appeals from Davis’ layers.
At 10:18 p.m., Davis’ attorneys announced the Supreme court had rejected Davis’ last-minute motion for a stay of execution. There were no dissents in the Supreme Courts’ decision, meaning the court’s decision was unanimous.
Anderson Cooper interviewed Officer MacPhail’s mother Anneliese MacPhail during his AC 360 show earlier in the evening.
When asked about her thoughts on her son, she said: “I tell him, let this be over soon, so we have some peace. We love you, we miss you.
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