Arguing for the abolition of the death penalty and the need for judicial reform Tuesday night, Troy Davis’ sister and other panelists condemned Davis’ controversial execution.

Davis, who was convicted of the 1989 murder of a police officer, was executed in September amidst a media firestorm of questions surrounding the legitimacy of the verdict after several witnesses recanted their testimony.

A petition calling for a clemency in Davis’ case gathered almost one million signatures, renewing a nationwide debate about the death penalty in America.

“It’s incredibly important to discuss this in light of the events that transpired,” Zachary Allard (GRD) said.

Tuesday’s panel, organized by Carolyn Forche, director of the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice, was the first of a new Lannan Center discussion series called “Matters of Urgency.” The panel also included Lawrence Hayes, a death row exoneree and co-founder of Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Laura Moye, director of Amnesty International USA’s Death Penalty Abolition Campaign and Kimberly Davis, activist and Troy Davis’ sister.

The panel began with a film that covered the campaign to appeal his sentence and made the case for Davis’ innocence.

“Troy Davis is not just a case. Troy Davis is a human being,” Jen Marlowe, the film’s director, said before introducing Davis’ sister.

Kimberly Davis gave an emotional testimony as she shared stories from her childhood. She recounted that after being diagnosed at age 14 with multiple sclerosis, she was told she might never walk again. It was her brother, she said, who sat at her bedside each day, withdrew from school, enrolled in night classes and started to work to help his family.

“He was my hero,” she said.

Other panelists also touched on their personal connections to death row.

Hayes described his conviction, time on death row and eventual release, the experiences of which have inspired him to co-found the Campaign to End the Death Penalty and become involved with the Davis family’s struggle for justice.

“The integrity of the American judicial system is as low as it ever can be. … We need to take back our justice system,” he said.

Moye argued for the abolition of the death penalty in the United States, noting that two-thirds of the world’s countries have already done so. She also emphasized the racial disparities in the application of the death penalty.

“In a country as sophisticated as ours, surely we can move past caveman-like retributive justice,” she said.