Darryl Hunt Fights to Save Life of Georgia Death-Row Inmate

Darryl Hunt Fights to Save Life of Georgia Death-Row Inmate

September 21, 2011 |

41-year-old Troy Anthony Davis is convicted of killing Mark Allen MacPhail, an off-duty Savannah police officer. Early Tuesday morning, a Georgia parole board denied Davis clemency. He’s to be executed Wednesday evening, September 21st by lethal injection.

Hunt says this case is like thousands of others in this country, including his own. Hunt sat on death row for more than 18 years after being convicted of a murder he did not commit. DNA evidence led to his release in 2004. He's since founded and is president of The Darryl Hunt Project for Freedom and Justice.Hunt has been a vocal advocate of Davis’ innocence since 2004. He’s going to Atlanta to support the death-row inmate and his two sisters, Kim and Martina. According to Hunt, there is no physical evidence connecting Davis to MacPhail's murder and seven of the nine eye witnesses who originally testified against him during his trial have now recanted. They say police pressured them to speak out against Davis.

The murder happened in 1989 in a Burger King parking lot. MacPhail was shot three times while attempting to help a homeless man who was being attacked. Davis has always maintained his innocence. His case has also gained national support from the NAACP in addition to support from amnesty groups in France, Germany, Ireland and other European nations because of what they call overwhelming doubts about Davis’ guilt. Last Friday, Hunt organized a bus caravan to Atlanta and participants joined an international rally on Davis’ behalf. He says what’s happening to Davis is very common and believes it will only change when young people dominate the American justice system and work for the fair treatment of the accused. Davis’ attorneys continue looking for appeal options.