Victim's Mother Talks About Troy Davis Execution
ATLANTA - The mother of a murdered police officer talks to FOX 5 about the case against death row inmate Troy Davis, his impending execution and the hundreds of thousands of people asking Georgia to spare his life.
The mother of a Savannah police officer shot and killed 22 years ago is speaking out about the effort to stay the execution of his killer.
Supporters of Troy Davis say the Georgia parole board should spare the convicted murderer’s life because of new evidence, but Mark MacPhail's mother tells FOX 5 she believes the right man has been convicted.
For more than a decade, Annelise MacPhail says she and her family stayed silent about Davis and his efforts to overturn his murder conviction.
She says she is speaking now out to ensure there is justice for her murdered son.
“They make it look like we after blood, but we are not. We are after justice,” Anneliese MacPhail said.
It's been 22 years since Anneliese MacPhail's son Mark was shot and killed on the job as a Savannah police officer.
Twenty years ago, Troy Davis was convicted of the murder and sentenced to death.
“My son was a young man with a young family,” Anneliese McPhail said. “My grandson was just seven weeks old, my granddaughter just 24 months. He was just starting his life and he was just doing his job.”
On the day that Troy Davis supporters delivered 600,000 signatures asking that his life be spared to the Georgia parole board, Anneliese MacPhail says she believes her son and his violent murder are being forgotten.
“I'm disgusted. I love to ask them when was the last time one of their sons got shot and killed and murdered,” MacPhail said.
Davis was also convicted of shooting another man that night. His supporters say witnesses have recanted and changed their testimony, but after hearing the new evidence a federal judge last summer said it was not enough to overturn a murder conviction.
MacPhail said she never doubted Davis' guilt.
His whole family will travel to Atlanta on Monday for Troy Davis' clemency hearing before his scheduled Wednesday execution.
“I really don't know what to expect next week. It has happened so many times. The last time it was an hour before he was supposed to be executed,” MacPhail said.
MacPhail said if the execution takes place as scheduled, it would give her some peace, but not closure.
“That hole in my heart will be there until the day I die, but it may give me some peace and quiet. That is really what I would like to have," MacPhail said.
MacPhail says she feels like with all the international attention on Davis and his legal battles, the loss of her son and the pain of her family are being overlooked.