Funeral being held Saturday for Troy Davis

A funeral service is being held on Saturday morning for Troy Davis, who was executed by the state of Georgia on September 21 for the murder of an off-duty police officer in 1989. Davis drew international attention because many people believe he was innocent.

CNN reports that ministers, activists and NAACP President Ben Jealous are among those scheduled to speak during the Saturday service at Jonesville Baptist Church in Savannah, Georgia. The event is open to the public.

The Associated Press reports that the church's sanctuary can hold 2,000 people, and a large crowd is expected. Rev. Raphael Warnock of Atlanta, who served as a spiritual adviser to Davis on death row, will give the eulogy.

On Friday night, Davis' friends and supporters gathered for a smaller church memorial service, the AP reports:

Friends, pastors, anti-death penalty activists and Davis' lawyer all took turns at a podium behind his closed casket, decorated with a spray of white and purple flowers.

Warnock told the AP that he hopes Saturday's event to the funeral held after the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till.

"Like Emmett Till's mother insisted on an open casket funeral in a way that the world could see the injustice of Jim Crow, it's much to the Davis family's credit that they have been willing in the midst of their personal pain to see that we are talking about a larger, national moral crisis," Warnock said.