Troy Davis will be remembered Saturday in Georgia (creative commons)

A funeral service will be held Saturday for convicted cop killer Troy Davis, just one week after being put to death by lethal injection in Georgia. 

Ministers, activists, the NAACP president and hundreds of supporters are expected to attend the public funeral described by CNN as a celebration of Davis’ life.

According to CBS, longtime friend Earl Redman, who has known Davis since age 8, told guests Friday at a separate memorial that during prison visits, Davis expected to die in prison.

"He looked me in the eye and he told me, `Don't let me die in vain. Don't let my name die in vain.’”In his final words before execution, Davis maintained his innocence and asked forgiveness for his accusers and executioners. Since his death, the long-standing debate of the death penalty has heated up. Many have asked, can you still follow through with an execution despite reasonable doubt?

The pastor who will deliver the eulogy said he hopes Davis’ death will serve as a wake-up call on the death penalty similar to how the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till shocked Americans in regards to Jim Crow.

Reach writer Mike Vulpo here