The world’s eyes focused on Georgia last week as the on-again-off-again execution of Troy Davis reached its final scene at the state prison in Jackson.
At The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, our journalists chronicled the conclusion of a case we had been following for more than 20 years, since off-duty Savannah police officer Mark Allen MacPhail was gunned down in a Burger King parking lot.
Our staff — including longtime courts and legal reporter Bill Rankin, who’s written dozens of stories about the case and has interviewed many of the key players — was on the job from Wednesday morning through the three-hour delay that ended with Davis’ death at 11:08 p.m.
With the help of photographer Hyosub Shin and reporter Craig Schneider, who were in Columbus with MacPhail’s mother, it was Rankin who first told the world that Davis was dead, when he reported the news via Twitter and posted it on ajc.com.
Another of our reporters, Rhonda Cook, sat inside the prison with relatives of Davis and MacPhail; she witnessed and wrote down Davis’ final words. She has attended 12 executions and wrote a personal account of what it was like to be at this one.
Our journalists have the job of witnessing history as it unfolds. As professionals, they often find themselves in the middle of huge and emotional stories. I asked some of them to reflect on what it was like.
For Johnny Crawford, a photographer who was amid both protesters and law enforcement officers outside the prison in Jackson, the scene was personal.
“Because I’m from Jackson this was a very hard event for me to cover,” he said. “I know some of the guards, and I know some of the demonstrators. The thing that I continued to pray for was that this event would come off peacefully.”
Cook saw the crowd outside the prison on her way into it.
“They had said reporters would not be allowed on the property until 3 p.m.,” she said. “I drove up at 3:05 and there was a sea of satellite trucks, media trucks, dozens of state patrol cars and correctional officers in riot gear. I have never seen it like this.”
She and the other reporters there to witness the execution passed several hours awaiting word that final appeals had run out and they would be transported to the death chamber.
“Once we are told it’s time to go to the execution, talk stops immediately, all levity goes away and it’s all business,” she said. “There is virtually no conversation in the van going through the check points.”
The scene at Anneliese MacPhail’s home was documented by Schneider and Shin.
“She just wanted the night to be over since she has already experienced the same night three times before,” Shin said. “I can’t imagine how hard it must have been for her to wait those long hours.”
Schneider, who also spent those hours with Anneliese MacPhail, said: “I felt I had met an extraordinary woman.”
“I remember at one point she went outside in the rain to do a satellite interview with CNN’s Anderson Cooper,” Schneider said. “With an umbrella over her head, she stood waiting for him to come on. It might have been 10 minutes, just looking at the camera, never moving a muscle — like a soldier at a post.”
As chroniclers of such an event, our journalists work hard to reflect the emotions of those personally affected.
As Rankin put it: “A prevailing theme throughout all of this is what both families — the families of Davis and of MacPhail — had to endure for so many years. A court order denying relief. An execution being scheduled, then stayed, which meant trips to death row to prepare for the worst (Davis’ family) or to come witness the execution (MacPhail’s). I can’t imagine what they both went through.”
We hope that as a reader of the newspaper, through our staff’s work, you received a deep understanding of this compelling story.
Kevin Riley is editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Contact him at editor@ajc.com or
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