Troy Davis Execution will Give Me Peace, Says Mother of Slain Cop

As thousands of people took out rallies in Atlanta to oppose the execution of Troy Davis, the slain Savannah cop's mother on Saturday said that Troy was not innocent and his execution would give her peace.

A long legal battle for Georgia death row inmate Troy Davis could come to an end next week in a death chamber in a Georgia prison.

Davis, who was convicted in the 1989 murder of police officer Mark MacPhail of Savannah, is scheduled to be put to death on September 21.

I will never have closure, Anneliese MacPhail told CNN. But I may have some peace when he is executed.

MacPhail, 27, was operating as a security officer outside a Savannah bus station on Aug 19, when he was gunned down. MacPhail left behind his wife and two young children.

Davis was 19 years old when he was arrested for the murder. Eyewitnesses' statements two years later influenced a jury to sentence him to death.

People supporting Davis said he was innocent. They noted that 10 questionable witnesses in the case had signed affidavits withdrawing their statement saying that police had forced them into accusing the 41-year-old.

There was no murder weapon found or they had no DNA evidence against Davis; he was just arrested on questionable witness statements.

But still the slain cop's mother believes that Davis was the killer. I think these people are just against the death penalty, Anneliese said, adding that they have no idea what's going on. ... They don't know what happened.

Spencer Lawton, then-Chatham County district attorney, in 2008 gave a statement in which he said that Davis was at a pool party in Savannah when he shot another man, Michael Cooper, in the face, CNN reported.

Davis's lawyers have been arguing at a district court that they can prove their client's innocence. They have also managed to spare him from three execution dates in the last four years.

I'm not out after blood, I'm after justice, Anneliese MacPhail said. I want my son to rest in peace.

The Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles received petitions with 663,000 names, urging clemency on Thursday. The board is scheduled to meet on Monday to consider whether to stop Davis's execution by lethal injection.

If I knew then what I know now, Brenda Davis, one of the jurors in the trial told CNN in a 2009 interview, Troy Davis would not be on death row. The verdict would be 'not guilty.'

There were more than 2000 coordinated rallies from downtown Atlanta to Ebenezer Baptist Church on Auburn Avenue on Friday showing support for Davis.

Martin Luther King III, son of the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., also joined the march, Reuters reported.

The case has attracted much attention over the years. Many notables like former president Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI and Nobel laureate Desmond Tutu have urged authorities to spare Davis' life.

Laura Moye, the Death Penalty Abolition campaign director for Amnesty International USA, said that rallies for Davis were first started in Hong Kong. Those rallies went on throughout the day in the United States, Latin America, Europe and Asia. There were 10 events in France on behalf of Davis, Moye also told AFP.

The Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Davis in August 2009 to judge what he said was new evidence showing his innocence.

The Supreme Court transferred the case to a District Court in Georgia for the trial. But a year later, judge William T. Moore Jr. discarded Davis's claims of innocence.

It is all that stands between Davis and execution and unless something major happens or if there is any other twist, Davis will die by lethal injection on Wednesday night.