Girvies Davis
Girvies Davis, a man who learned to read in prison and became an ordained minister, was executed by the State of Illinois on May 17, 1995, at Stateville prison. His lawyers said he was functionally illiterate at the time and could not have written a note attributed to him. Davis said police coerced the confession on which his conviction mainly rested. His former appellate attorney, David A. Schwartz, wrote that he remains convinced Davis did not commit the murder, and that no alibi could be found and innocence could not be proven before the execution. Schwartz described Davis as soft-spoken and said Davis comforted him in his cell before the execution.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. His lawyers said he was functionally illiterate and could not have written a note attributed to him, and that doubts about his conviction went unaddressed; his former appellate attorney David A. Schwartz writes that he remains convinced Davis did not commit the murder.
Reported by: State of Illinois (the agency that held him); David A. Schwartz, former appellate attorney (family or their lawyers); his lawyers.