JACKSON, Ga. — Troy Davis was put to death by lethal injection late Wednesday for the 1989 murder of an off-duty police officer, maintaining his innocence until the end after convincing thousands of it, but not the justice system.

Davis was declared dead at 11:08 p.m. EDT, a prison official said.

His execution, which began at 10:53 p.m., came after a three-hour hold while the Supreme Court considered a late request for a stay. In the end the court refused to stop the execution, despite calls for clemency from former President Jimmy Carter, Pope Benedict XVI and others.

Davis' attorneys say seven of nine key witnesses against him recanted all or parts of their testimony, but state and federal judges repeatedly ruled against granting him a new trial.

Media witnesses said that on his death bed, Davis told the family of the slain officer, Mark MacPhail, that he was very sorry for their loss but that he wasn't responsible for his death.

"It's not my fault; I did not have a gun," he said while strapped to a gurney, according to witness Rhonda Cook of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "I did not personally kill your son, father, brother," he said, Cook reported.

He asked his family and supporters to "dig deeper" into the case after his death "so you can find the real truth."

"For those about to take my life," he told prison officials, "may God have mercy on your souls. May God bless your souls."

MacPhail's family attending the execution never turned their heads or wavered, said witness John Lewis of WSB radio. They included the officer's son, Mark MacPhail Jr., and brother, William MacPhail.

"They just stared at the glass, watching as the execution happened," he said.

MacPhail's widow, Joan MacPhail-Harris, said in a telephone interview from Jackson there was "nothing to rejoice," but that it was "a time for healing for all families."

"I will grieve for the Davis family because now they're going to understand our pain and our hurt," she said. "My prayers go out to them. I have been praying to them all these years. And I pray there will be some peace along the way for them."

"I'm kind of numb. I can't believe that it's really happened," MacPhail's mother, Anneliese MacPhail, said in a telephone interview

from her home in Columbus, Ga. "All the feelings of relief and peace I've been waiting for all these years, they will come later. I certainly do want some peace."

Of Davis' claims of innocence, she said, "He's been telling himself that for 22 years. You know how it is, he can talk himself into anything."

Members of Davis' family who witnessed the execution left without talking to reporters.

A crowd of 700 Davis supporters who had gathered outside the prison in the afternoon dwindled to about 50 as the minutes, then hours, passed.

When word of the delay came, they cheered and sang "We Shall Overcome."

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