A death row inmate has been spared by a governor just hours before his scheduled execution by lethal injection.
Oklahoma’s Republican Governor Kevin Stitt commuted Julius Jones’ sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole amid protests and an appeal arguing that the state’s execution process is ‘cruel and unusual punishment’.
Jones’ execution was set to take place at 4pm ET on Thursday at the State Penitentiary in McAlester.
‘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 stated.
For more than two decades, Jones, 41, claimed he was innocent in the 1999 killing of Oklahoma businessman Paul Howell. Jones was 19 years old when he was arrested in Howell’s murder in an affluent Oklahoma City suburb and was sentenced to death in 2002.
Jones has said he was framed by the actual killer, his high school friend and a co-defendant who testified against him and was released from prison 15 years later.
State and county prosecutors have argued there is overwhelming evidence against Jones, including witness transcripts identifying Jones as the shooter. Investigators also found the weapon used in the murder wrapped in a bandana that contained Jones’ DNA, stashed above his bedroom. Jones claims that the actual killer put it there.
A federal appeals court had rejected Jones’ final appeal last week, which put his fate in the hands of Stitt. The Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in September recommended that Stitt commute Jones’ life sentence to life in prison without parole. At the time, Stitt said he was waiting on the board’s clemency hearing. On November 1, the board voted 3-1 to recommend clemency for Jones.
Moments after Stitt granted clemency, Jones’ sister Antoinette Jones thanked the governor as well as God and Jesus.
‘I want to thank everyone for continuing to tell Julius’ story,’ she said, according to NBC News. ‘Thank you to the world.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.