During Davis’ time on death row, and even after his execution, more and more evidence now points to the actual shooter having been Sylvester “Redd” Coles. Coles is an obvious suspect because he was the only person besides Davis to be in Young’s vicinity when he was assaulted and MacPhail was murdered. Coles was also the first to implicate Davis as the shooter, the only witness able to fully recall the incident start to finish, and one of the only two witnesses that did not recant their testimony. In addition, several witnesses have come forward stating that Coles confessed to murdering Officer MacPhail.
“he wanted to make sure I didn’t tell the police about the guns he hid. ” -Tonya Johnson
It was also known that Coles owned a 38- caliber gun, the weapon suspected in the shooting, and having it the night of the shooting. Two of the witnesses, Tonya Johnson and Anita Saddler, stated seeing Coles hide two guns the night of the shooting. Saddler confirmed this statement as she was with Johnson that night, also stating that he had a gun in his shorts.
“In her affidavit, Johnson-who lived near the scene of the shooting-reveals that Coles talked to her right after the shooting and asked her to hold his gun. When she refused, Coles “took both guns next door to an empty house and put them inside the screen door and shut the door. ” (The Innocence Network)
Johnson was threatened by Coles after shooting, which is why she didn’t include it in her original statement. She was not the only one he threatened. Coles had previously received a felony conviction for carrying a concealed weapon and was afraid of being arrested for violation.
“he said he killed a policeman and a guy named Troy took the fall for it. “- Anthony Hargrove
There are 3 separate witness affidavits by Anthony Hargrove, Shirley Riley, and Darold Taylor claiming to have heard a confession by Coles. All said to be clothes friends to Coles. All confessions were a year or more after Davis’ conviction and were easily told after simply asking.
