Julius Jones (prisoner)
Julius Darius Jones (born July 25, 1980) is an American prisoner and former death row inmate from Oklahoma who was convicted of the July 1999 murder of Paul Howell. His case has received international attention due to claims of innocence and controversy surrounding his trial and conviction. Jones was convicted of the crime on the basis of what the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals later characterized as an "overwhelming" body of evidence consisting of "a co-defendant who directly implicated Jones, eyewitness identification, incriminating statements made by Jones after the crime, flight from police, damning physical evidence hidden in Jones's parents' home, and an interlocking web of other physical and testimonial evidence consistent with the State's theory."
Julius Jones | |
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2018 mugshot of Julius Jones | |
| Born | Julius Darius Jones July 25, 1980 Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Education | University of Oklahoma |
| Criminal status | Incarcerated |
| Conviction(s) | First-degree murder |
| Criminal penalty |
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| Details | |
| Victims | Paul Scott Howell, 45 |
| Date | July 28, 1999 |
| Location(s) | Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Weapons | Glock 17 |
| Imprisoned at | Joseph Harp Correctional Center |
Jones and his defense team maintain that he was at home with his family at the time of the murder and that his co-defendant Christopher Jordan is the true perpetrator of the crime, contending that eyewitness descriptions of the killer better describe Jordan than Jones, and noting that three jailhouse informants have said that they have heard Jordan confess to the shooting.
Jones was scheduled to be executed on November 18, 2021. However, four hours before his scheduled execution, Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt commuted his sentence to life imprisonment without parole.