Julius Jones' family begs for clemency as controversial execution nears: "This is a state of emergency"
Julius Jones' family and supporters are begging the governor of Oklahoma to stop his execution, which is set for Thursday, amid questions about his conviction for a 1999 murder that he insists he did not commit.
Jones will be put to death at 4 p.m. CT, unless Governor Kevin Stitt grants him a clemency application that was recently endorsed by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board. Jones was sentenced to death almost 20 years ago for the murder of Paul Howell, whose family believes he's responsible and deserves to die.
But the 41-year-old inmate, who was 19 at the time of the killing, has always maintained his innocence and says he was home when Howell was murdered.
"This is a state of emergency," his sister, Antoinette Jones, told CBS News national correspondent Mireya Villarreal. "This is a man's life on the line. His life has been on the line for 22 years for something he did not do."
The family visited him in prison Wednesday for what could be the last time.
"It was very hard," Antoinette Jones said, adding that she wanted to hug her brother for the first time in 17 years but couldn't.
The parole board recommended earlier this month that Jones' sentence be commuted and that he be given life in prison with the possibility of parole.
Ultimately, the power lies with Stitt, who has only met with Howell's family so far. This is the first death penalty case the Republican governor has faced.
"I believe in death penalty cases there should be no doubt, and put simply, I have doubts in this case," Board Chairman Adam Luck said.
Jones' attorneys on Thursday made a last-ditch effort to spare his life by filing an emergency motion seeking an injunction against his execution. They cited "important new evidence" about a recent "botched" execution in Oklahoma and said the court should make sure Jones is not executed before a trial on the constitutionality of the state's execution protocol is held in February.
John Marion Grant, who was executed on October 28 for murder, repeatedly vomited and convulsed before he was declared dead, according to eyewitnesses at the execution. It was Oklahoma's first execution in more than six years.
Thursday's motion argues that Oklahoma's execution protocol and the use of the sedative midazolam "pose a serious and substantial risk of suffering and pain to prisoners."
Howell was murdered in front of his family outside his home. His SUV was stolen, and a witness reported seeing a Black man with a red bandana and 1 to 2 inches of hair shoot the father of two. Three days later, Jones was arrested — even as his family suggests he was framed, saying eyewitnesses' descriptions were wrong because he had a shaved head at the time. They also say he was home playing board games and eating spaghetti when Howell was murdered.
"I am not the person responsible for taking Mr. Howell's life," Jones told the parole board in a recent hearing.
Howell's family says that's not true. His daughter Rachel Howell told CBS News before the board made its clemency recommendation that there is an "overwhelming amount of evidence" pointing to Jones as the culprit.
"I want to be a voice for my dad because he was an innocent man taking his kids to get ice cream with my aunt, and he was murdered in front of me and my sister and my aunt all for a car. He never got a say in this," she said.
Police on Wednesday arrested a group of protesters who gathered outside of the Oklahoma Governor's Mansion urging Stitt to grant the clemency request. Authorities have set up barricades and sent additional troopers to the area in case there's any unrest as rallies were expected to take place at the prison and in Oklahoma City.
Antoinette Jones says she'll be at the prison on Thursday.
"I have to be there for my brother," she said. "I would want him to be there for me... His life is worth it. His life has always been worth the fight."
In a rally Wednesday night, Jones' mother was surrounded by supporters as she, too, pleaded for his life.
"The truth will set you free," Madeline Jones said. "We're talking about justice. Justice for who? Justice for all of us."