Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones could change his sentence. The U.S. Pardon and Probation Council voted Monday (September 13th) to recommend that Jones’ death sentence be replaced with life imprisonment with parole. The board voted 3-1 in favor of Jones.
Jones, 41, faces execution for the 1999 car hijacking and shooting of Paul Howell, an insurance director who had returned from ice cream with his sister and young daughters and had entered his parents’ alley. The shooter managed to drive over Howell after shooting him in front of his family.
John was a freshman at the University of Oklahoma at the time. He and his legal team claim that an acquaintance of Jones High School, Christopher Jordan, was responsible for the crime. It is said that the next night, when Jordan stayed overnight at Jones ‘house, he laid down the murder weapon, and witnesses to the red bandana said that the killer was dressed in Jones’ bedroom. Local newspaper The City Sentinel reports that the bandana’s DNA, according to Jones’ lawyers, does not match that of their client.
NBC News reports that Jordan denies this, testifying that he drove the car with Jones the night of the murder, but did not shoot Howell. Jordan received a life sentence on murder charges after admitting his role in the murder, but was released after 15 years.
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Jones said in his request for a relocation hearing that he was home and having dinner with his parents the night Howell was killed. But during the 2000 trial, his lawyers did not call witnesses on his behalf and refused to call him for an opinion, despite his desire to testify on his own behalf.
Governor J. Kevin Stitt will have the final say on whether Jones’ sentence will be commuted. According to Oklahoman, he could be granted parole immediately due to the time already served. Stitt may also decide to commute the sentence to life without parole.
Jones’ case has garnered support from celebrities and activists against the death penalty. Kim Kardashian visited him last year in Oklahoma County Jail and millions of people signed an online petition on his behalf.
Jones’ case also rose recently after the Oklahoma Attorney General asked to schedule deadlines for the execution of seven inmates, including Jones.
Oklahoma is the state with the third highest rate of executions of prisoners.