Supporters Appeal for Clemency for Death Row Inmate Julius Jones

Hundreds of students walked retired of schools and activists demonstrated extracurricular the governor’s bureau connected Wednesday successful a last effort to transportation Gov. Kevin Stitt of Oklahoma to assistance clemency to a death-row inmate who is scheduled to beryllium executed connected Thursday.

The inmate, Julius Jones, was convicted of first-degree execution and sentenced to decease successful 2002. He was accused of sidesplitting Paul Howell, who was successful a car successful the driveway of his parents’ location erstwhile helium was carjacked and fatally changeable successful 1999.

Mr. Jones, 41, a erstwhile precocious schoolhouse hoops subordinate from Oklahoma City, was 19 astatine the clip of the killing, which helium says helium did not commit. Mr. Howell, a businessman from the suburb of Edmond, was 45.

In September and again this month, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommended that Mr. Jones’s condemnation beryllium commuted to beingness successful situation with the anticipation of parole, a important measurement successful a lawsuit that has garnered nationalist attention, said Cece Jones-Davis, who directs an Oklahoma-based run called Justice for Julius.

But Mr. Jones, his household and his supporters are inactive waiting to perceive whether Mr. Stitt, a Republican, volition judge oregon cull the board’s recommendation, Ms. Jones-Davis said. Mr. Jones is scheduled to beryllium executed by lethal injection astatine 4 p.m. connected Thursday.

“We are hoping and believing and trusting that the politician is inactive going to bash the close thing,” Ms. Jones-Davis said connected Wednesday. “But we are coming down to the hour.”

The Oklahoma City Public Schools estimated that much than 1,800 students crossed 13 schools participated successful walkouts to enactment Mr. Jones connected Wednesday. The territory said that it “supports our students’ rights to peaceful assembly and their state of expression.”

At the State House, scores of Mr. Jones’s supporters prayed, sang and chanted “free Julius Jones.” Madeline Davis-Jones, Mr. Jones’s mother, told the assemblage that her lad was innocent.

“If my kid is executed tomorrow, oregon immoderate day, it should beryllium without a doubt,” she said. “It shouldn’t beryllium a doubt. Not adjacent a small spot of doubt.”

A spokeswoman for Mr. Stitt said successful an email: “We volition not person immoderate comments until aft the politician has made a decision.”

If helium is executed, Mr. Jones would beryllium the 2nd idiosyncratic enactment to decease by the State of Oklahoma since John Marion Grant, who was convicted of murdering a situation cafeteria idiosyncratic successful 1998, was executed connected Oct. 28.

Mr. Grant, 60, was the state’s archetypal inmate to dice by lethal injection since 2015, erstwhile Oklahoma stopped executions aft utilizing the incorrect cause successful 1 lawsuit and allowing a captive to regain consciousness successful another.

Mr. Grant vomited portion shaking for respective minutes during the execution, which reporters who person witnessed executions called highly uncommon successful their experience. But authorities situation officials said a time aft Mr. Grant’s execution that they did not program to marque immoderate changes to the state’s lethal injection protocols.

“I volition hold inmate Grant’s regurgitation was not pleasant to watch,” Scott Crow, the manager of Oklahoma’s situation system, said astatine a virtual quality league connected Oct. 29. “But I bash not judge that it was inhumane.”

Mr. Jones, a Black antheral who has spent astir fractional of his beingness successful prison, has agelong maintained his innocence.

“I did not termination Mr. Howell,” helium wrote successful a missive to the parole committee successful April, aft helium had exhausted his appeals. “I did not enactment successful immoderate mode successful his murder; and the archetypal clip I saw him was connected tv erstwhile his decease was reported.”

But relatives of Mr. Howell, a achromatic antheral whose sister and 2 daughters witnessed his killing, person rejected those claims and said that the efforts to assistance clemency to Mr. Jones person caused them pain.

“Our household continues to beryllium victimized by Julius Jones and his lies,” Mr. Howell’s brother, Brian Howell, said astatine a quality league successful September.

Mr. Jones and his supporters person argued that his defence lawyers failed him during his proceedings — for instance, by neglecting to question household members who person said that helium was having meal with them astatine the clip of Mr. Howell’s sidesplitting — and that prosecutors relied excessively heavy connected the grounds of a co-defendant who said that helium had seen Mr. Jones perpetrate the crime.

Mr. Jones’s supporters person besides argued that racism played a relation successful his proceedings and sentencing. African Americans marque up a disproportionate fig of decease enactment prisoners successful Oklahoma and successful the United States, and research has shown that radical convicted of execution are overmuch much apt to beryllium executed if the idiosyncratic who was killed was white.

Mr. Jones’s entreaty for clemency has drawn enactment from salient figures successful sports, authorities and entertainment.

Last month, Matt Schlapp, the president of the American Conservative Union, and Timothy Head, the enforcement manager for the Faith & Freedom Coalition, wrote a missive to Mr. Stitt urging him to commute Mr. Jones’s sentence.

“We judge that uncertainty astir Jones’s work for the superior transgression is not insignificant,” Mr. Schlapp and Mr. Head wrote.

On Wednesday, Baker Mayfield, a backmost for the Cleveland Browns, who won the Heisman Trophy arsenic a subordinate for the University of Oklahoma shot team, besides expressed anticipation that Mr. Jones would not beryllium executed.

“We’re 24 hours away,” helium told reporters. “So it’s tough. You know, hopefully God tin intervene and grip it correctly and bash the things helium needs to do.”

Mr. Jones’s lawsuit has been featured successful a 2018 documentary series produced by Viola Davis, a podcast episode past twelvemonth featuring Kim Kardashian West and a caller occurrence of “The Late Late Show With James Corden.”

“Julius, his household and everyone connected his squad are inactive hopeful Stitt volition bash the close thing,” Ms. Kardashian West wrote connected Twitter connected Tuesday.

Jacey Fortin contributed reporting.