Institutional Diet Log // Case Record

Allen Lee Davis

Analysis of the 1999 Florida State Prison execution, conviction history, and the notable, technically controversial, final meal protocol.

Allen Lee Davis was convicted for the 1982 triple murder of Priscilla Davis—who was three months pregnant at the time—and her two young daughters, Kristina (9) and Katherine (5). The murders occurred during a brutal robbery at the family’s home in Jacksonville, Florida.

He was executed by the electric chair at Florida State Prison on July 8, 1999. His execution remains one of the most controversial in Florida history due to severe technical malfunctions that caused blood to flow from his nose and chest, resulting in significant public outcry regarding the cruelty of the electric chair.

Davis requested a seafood-heavy final meal:

• 6oz lobster tail
• 6oz fried shrimp
• 6oz fried clams
• Half-pound of fried fish
• Garlic bread

Following the botched nature of his execution—specifically the heavy bleeding and the smoke emanating from the chair during the process—photographs of his body were subsequently released as part of a legal battle challenging the constitutionality of the electric chair in Florida. These images were widely used by death penalty opponents to argue that the method violated the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment.