Troy Davis is scheduled to die by lethal injection at a state prison in Jackson, Georgia
Wednesday at 7 p.m., unless the state’s Board of Pardons and Paroles grants him clemency.

Davis has vehemently professed his innocence since being convicted in 1991 of murdering Savannah police officer Mark MacPhail.

Monday morning, after the parole board convened a hearing in Davis’ appeal, MacPhail’s surviving family members gathered outside the building where the meeting was held, telling reporters they are confident the parole board will allow the execution to go forward.

Prosecutors say that on the night of the incident, Davis was at a pool party in Savannah when he shot a man before driving to a nearby convenience store, where he pistol-whipped a homeless man.

That’s when, they say, MacPhail - who was in uniform - arrived at a nearby bus station and restaurant and was shot three times, including once in the face, by Davis.

Since his conviction, seven of nine witnesses who testified against Davis have recanted their testimony.

In a petition to a U.S. District Court, Davis' lawyers insisted that there is "no physical evidence linking" Davis to MacPhail's murder. They noted the testimony of a ballistics expert who could not definitively find that the bullets that wounded the man that Davis’ allegedly shot earlier and the bullets that killed MacPhail were the same. 

Some 663,000 people, including leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former President Carter, have signed a petition urging the board to commute Davis’ death sentence, and an estimated 300 vigils and protests have been held in recent days around the country, including in Times Square on Davis’ behalf.

The MacPhail family says those who are rallying in support of Davis do not understand the facts in the case.

Video of Davis’ supporters holding a vigil outside the Chatham County Courthouse.

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