![]() ![]() “Yes, I’ve made many mistakes in my youth, but I did not kill Mr. “I am here before you today to tell what I never got to tell the jury during my trial,” Jones said during roughly 17 minutes of testimony on Monday. Jones, who was 19 when he was arrested for Howell’s murder, has spent half his life in prison and told the board on Monday that he was neither involved in the planning of the robbery that led to Howell’s death nor had he been present at the time of the shooting in Howell’s driveway. Jones has insisted he was set up by Howell’s killer, a friend who testified against him at trial, and claimed the murder weapon that was found wrapped in a bandana in his parents’ house was planted there. 18 execution in connection with the murder of 45-year-old Paul Howell during a carjacking plot in 1999. In an emotional statement after the hearing, Jones’ sister, Antoinette Jones, thanked the parole board for “seeing that there was a grave mistake and that it should be fixed,” while urging Stitt to “take all evidence consideration,” and adopt the parole board’s recommendation for her brother.Īfter 22 years on death row, Jones, now 41, is just weeks away from his scheduled Nov. The final decision about whether to grant Jones clemency or commute his sentence is now in the hands of Oklahoma Gov. Board member Richard Smothermon, who was appointed to the Pardon and Parole Board by the Supreme Court of Oklahoma in July, voted against it. She was joined by board members Adam Luck and Larry Morris who voted in favor of clemency and commuting Julius Jones’ death sentence to life imprisonment with the possibility of parole. “I continue to believe that there is doubt in this case in which the ultimate punishment should not be utilized,” board member Kelly Doyle said, rendering her vote in the 3-1 decision. And out of all the things we’ve done, all the rallies, all the marches … what you guys did today was the biggest statement.Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board voted on Monday to recommend clemency and commute the sentence of a Black man who has been on death row for nearly two decades and always maintained his innocence. One of the things we’ve been trying to do this entire time is make a statement. ![]() “Julius loves you, he appreciates you, and he knows he is not alone,” Williams said. Oklahoma City rapper and activist Jabee Williams, a longtime supporter of Jones, spoke at length Wednesday afternoon to the students at the Capitol. “We just said if we actually want to make a difference and feel like we’re being heard by people then we should just march.” Then, their conversation turned to a march toward the Capitol from Classen SAS, said Lailah Smith, 17. Everyone should know about what is happening to Julius.’” “Then we went to the front because we were like, ‘Why are we hidden in the back of the school where nobody can see us? Nobody knows what’s happening. “We were just going to go to the football field, have 22 seconds of silence and that was it,” Smith said. SAS senior Vivian Smith, 17, said she and a group of friends wanted to do something more than a walk out. ![]()
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