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Troy Davis’s Sister

December 2, 2011 by · Comments Off on Troy Davis’s Sister 

Troy Davis's SisterTroy Davis’s Sister, After battling breast cancer for more than a decade, Martina Correia, sister of recently executed Georgia death row inmate and international human rights cause Troy Davis, has passed away. She was 42, according to USA Today (Davis was also 42 when he was executed in September).

Despite her illness, Correia remained instrumental in the fight to save her brother’s life, arguing that there was too much doubt surrounding his conviction to execute him. In July 2010, Correia told CL she would continue to fight to prove her brothers innocence until she had “no breath left in her body.”

Rep. John Lewis issued the following statement upon hearing that Correia had died:

“I am deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Martina Davis-Correia. The agony of this death sentence and execution has killed not just one man, but has decimated an entire nuclear family. After 22 years of struggle, Davis’s mother died in the spring, her son was killed by the state of Georgia in September, and now her daughter has died. Correia was a brave and courageous woman who was her brother’s most stalwart advocate for clemency. She was angel of mercy who sacrificed her health to win her brother’s life.

“For a state which could have used its power to do what is right, the outcome is tragic. But for the Davis family, if it had to be this way, it is an elegant ending. God has finally accomplished what the state of Georgia could not. In his mercy he granted their prayers to be all together again — happy, healed and whole. They leave us the lessons of their lives and a legacy of struggle that strengthened a movement for repeal of the death penalty in this country. I send my deepest condolences to the Davis family and to Martina Correia’s son, who needs our support in this time. May God richly bless you for the sacrifice you as a family have made in the long, hard struggle for justice in America.”

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