Remembrance & Memorials: The tragic story of Troy Davis
source: 4WardEverUK Writers
published: 22 September 2026
Image Credit: George Becker at www.Pexels.com
From all of our hundreds of Remembrance Calendar entries, we particularly feature certain cases that were of notable historical significance.
Troy Davis
Troy Davis' ghost still speaks after all these years
(from
Houston Style Magazine)
I woke up Monday thinking about Troy Davis. Fifteen years ago, Georgia executed him.
He was innocent. I was outside the prison that night.
As the old song goes, that's the night the lights went out in Georgia.
No physical evidence tied Troy to the killing of Officer Mark MacPhail. The case rested on eyewitnesses. Seven of the nine later recanted or changed their accounts. Several swore the police had pressured them. They pointed instead to another man at the scene, the man who first gave police Troy's name. One witness testified he saw that man fire the shots.
Good people spoke up. William Sessions, who ran the FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation) under three presidents, wrote that the case was permeated in doubt.
Bob Barr, a Republican who supports the death penalty, wrote that condemning a man on the skimpiest of evidence does not serve justice. I am grateful to them. But they did not have what I had. I worked that case for fifteen years.
I read the affidavits myself. I did not come away with doubt. I came away certain. Georgia killed the wrong man.
Troy saw what we could not. He kept telling us the only way to break the killing machine was to make the country watch it work. So we built our campaign around a hashtag, #TooMuchDoubt. His execution became the second most tweeted event on earth that year. Weeks later, Gallup found support for the death penalty at a 39-year low.
Other Related News:
21 September 2016
The execution that birthed a movement
17 September 2016
Troy Davis and the death penalty: One year later
27 September 2012
Troy Davis and the quest for Justice
7 January 2010
share this article on social media
