Troy Davis Execution: MLK's Daughter Writes Letter in Support of Granting Clemency to Georgia Death Row Inmate

Beatrice King, the daughter of Martin Luther King Jr., has written a letter to the Georgia State Board of Pardons and Paroles in an attempt to halt the execution of Troy Davis, a death row inmate in Georgia who is sentenced to die on Wednesday.

Thousands of people across the world have rallied in support of Davis, from NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous to former President Jimmy Carter. Davis was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the murder of police officer Mark Allen MacPhail, who was shot to death in a Burger King parking lot in 1989.

Davis was arrested shortly afterwards and multiple witnesses testified that he had committed the crime. Years later, seven of the 10 witnesses either recanted or altered their original testimony, dousing Davis' guilty sentence with confusion. Some jurors on the original trial have now even said they would have changed their decision, according to multiple reports.

However, while multiple state and federal courts have reviewed the case, they have not overturned Davis' conviction or death sentence. Repeated attempts at a new trial have also failed.

In her letter, King quoted one of her father's famous statements -- Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, -- adding that it is in that mindset that she pleaded with the board to grant Davis' clemency and commute his death sentence.

King also sent copies of her appeal to a number of well-known figures, such as President Barack Obama, Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., former UN ambassador Andrew Young and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder.

Georgia authorities are scheduled to hold a last-ditch clemency hearing on Monday. If the board grants clemency, it will likely commute Davis' sentence to life in prison.

Davis' case has attracted word-wide attention. On Friday, about 300 protest rallies were held across the globe ahead of Davis' clemency hearing, spanning Europe, Latin America, Asia and the U.S. On Thursday, the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles receiving a petition with 663,000 in support of halting Davis' scheduled execution.

On Thursday night, the U.S. Supreme Court stepped in to halt the execution of Duane Buck, a Texas death row inmate who was scheduled to die that night. Although Buck is guilty of murdering two people, a psychologist for the prosecution had said during his trial that Buck was more likely to exhibit future violent behavior because he was black, an accusation that caused the jury to sentence him to death instead of life in prison.

Although the Supreme Court became involved in Davis' case in 2009 and ordered a federal judge to convene a hearing to consider new evidence, the Georgia court ruled that Davis had once again failed to prove his innocence and denied him a new trial. The Supreme Court then turned down a subsequent appeal.