Davis supporters say don't execute

NEW BRITAIN, Conn. (WTNH) - Tonight a man in Georgia convicted of killing a police officer may be put to death by lethal injection, but not without a fight.

Two decades after Troy Davis' conviction, some people insist he didn't do it. Some say that he was a victim of mistaken identity.

His execution has incited protests, and even a call on the White House to stop the death sentence.

More than 100 people came to the Central Connecticut State University campus in New Britain, holding a vigil for Davis right to the last second, they say what ever happens they will move forward in Davis' name.

"I just think that if there is a half of a percentage of doubt, you take someone's life and you feel helpless, so we are just siting here helpless, waiting for a man to die," says Quinn Martin.

Robert Nave is with Amnesty International, he says he worked with the Davis family for the last ten years, and helped stop the last execution. He talked to the family minutes before Davis was set to be put to death by lethal injection.

"This is a barbaric act, and in the case of Troy Davis for the reasons mentioned, this is not something that a civilized country would do," says Joanne Bauer.

Seven of the nine witnesses who provided help in convicting Davis say he was not the man who gunned down off-duty police officer Mark MacPhail in 1989. Six of them say police threatened them, unless they identified Davis.

Davis supporters say there was no physical evidence linking Davis to the murder.

"There's just too much doubt for this execution to continue," says Reverend Raphael Warnock.

Those hopes dimmed Tuesday, when the Georgia pardons and parole board rejected his clemency bid to the relief of the MacPhail's family.

"Justice will be done, that's what we wanted," says Joan MacPhail-Harris, widow.

MacPhail was shot to death while rushing to help a homeless man who had been attacked.

"He didn't have to do this, there was no reason for it," says Anneliese MacPhail, mother.

Davis' is the latest in a series of executions, some of which have raised serious questions.

Lawrence Russell Brewer was also executed tonight for dragging a black man to death behind his truck.

There was also Cleve Foster in Alabama and Duane Buck in Texas, both spared execution in the past week when the Supreme Court stepped in.

For Davis, the campaign ran into the final hours in Atlanta.

On Twitter, Davis has celebrity support from rapper Big Boi of Outkast, and rocker Questlove of The Roots.

Davis' supporters went beyond music stars. Also supporting his clemency request were former president Jimmy Carter and Pope Benedict XVI.