His execution was just hours away when Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt blocked everything and commuted the condemned's sentence. Julius Jones, who was to be killed by lethal injection, will instead spend the rest of his days in prison, with no chance of getting parole.
A decision that was greeted with shouts of joy by the dozens of people who were demonstrating in front of the governor's office.
"After a careful review of the material presented by both sides, I have decided to commute Julius Jones' sentence to life imprisonment with no parole," Stitt announced, thus accepting the recommendations of the Pardon and Parole Board which in two occasions, in September and in recent weeks, he had expressed his support for a commutation of the sentence. The case had attracted national interest, with many celebrities - including Kim Kardashian and several NBA players - pushing for the suspension of capital punishment.
The 41-year-old was convicted of the 1999 murder of Paul Howell. The latter's car was near his parents' house when he was shot dead. Jones, who was then 19, has always pleaded innocent. "I did not kill Howell. I did not participate in his murder in any way. The first time I saw him was when they announced his death on television," Jones wrote to the Pardon and Parole Board last April.
The victim's family, whose sister and two daughters allegedly witnessed the assassination, have always rejected Jones's plea of innocence and opposed efforts to get him pardoned.
The African American for his supporters was not adequately defended at the trial, for example his family members declared that the young man was at the table with them at the time of the crime. Furthermore, another very heavy accusation, the procedure would have been marred by racism.
(Unioneonline / ss)
