In the summer of 1999, three days after his 19th birthday, Jones was the number one suspect in the killing of Edmond businessman Paul Howell. 28.At the time of the crime for which he was convicted, Julius was a student athlete with a promising future, attending the University of Oklahoma on an academic scholarship. Grant, 60, convulsed and vomited as he was being put to death Oct. Oklahoma ended a six-year moratorium on executions - brought on by concerns over its lethal injection methods - last month. “We need Julius Jones to be held responsible.” And he still feels no shame, guilt or remorse for his action,” Tobey said. “He is the same person today as he was 22 years ago. Tobey testified before the board that she distinctly remembers seeing Jones shoot her brother. Howell’s sister, Megan Tobey, and two young daughters were in Howell’s SUV when the carjacking happened in his parents’ driveway in the Oklahoma City suburb of Edmond. Jones claimed in his commutation filing that the gun and bandanna were planted there by the actual killer, who had been inside Jones’ house after the killing. Investigators also found the murder weapon wrapped in a bandanna with Jones’ DNA in an attic space above his bedroom. Information from trial transcripts shows that witnesses identified Jones as the shooter and placed him with Howell’s stolen vehicle. But Oklahoma County District Attorney David Prater and the state’s former attorney general, Mike Hunter, have said the evidence against Jones is overwhelming. Jones alleges he was framed by the actual killer, a high school friend and former co-defendant who was a key witness against him. During their trip to Oklahoma City earlier this season, Stephen Curry and Steve Kerr of the Warriors connected with Jones’ family and spoke out to urge Stitt to commute Jones’ sentence. Since then, reality television star Kim Kardashian West and athletes with Oklahoma ties, including NBA stars Russell Westbrook, Blake Griffin and Trae Young, have urged Stitt to commute Jones’ death sentence and spare his life. Jones’ case drew widespread attention after it was profiled in “The Last Defense,” a three-episode documentary produced by actress Viola Davis that aired on ABC in 2018. “After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones’ sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” Stitt said in a news release.Ī crowd that had gathered inside of the Oklahoma Capitol in support of Jones broke out into loud applause and cheers after the decision was announced shortly after noon Thursday.Įarlier Thursday, Jones’ attorneys had filed a last-minute emergency request seeking a temporary stop to his execution, saying Oklahoma’s lethal injection procedures post a “serious and substantial risk of severe suffering and pain to prisoners” and citing last month’s execution in which John Marion Grant convulsed and vomited as he was being put to death. He had been scheduled for execution at 4 p.m. Stitt commuted the 41-year-old Jones’ death sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. Jones has proclaimed his innocence from death row for more than two decades in the 1999 killing of a suburban Oklahoma City businessman. Kevin Stitt commuted the death sentence of condemned inmate Julius Jones on Thursday, just hours before his scheduled execution.
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