World enews: Julius Jones: Oklahoma governor stops execution with last-minute decision for life sentence

Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt has called off the execution of death row inmate Julius Jones, just hours before the man was set to die by lethal injection at an Oklahoma prison. Jones was sentenced to death for the 1999 murder of Paul Howell in the Oklahoma City suburbs, a crime he says he didn’t commit.

“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,” governor Stitt said in a statement on Thursday.

Cheers erupted inside the Oklahoma state house, where demonstrators have been holding vigils for days, trying to persuade Governor Stitt to stop the execution.

Jones became the subject of a passionate nationwide “Justice for Julius” innocence movement, whose supporters claimed he wasn’t given a fair trial, and that Oklahoma’s criminal justice system has a well-documented bias against young Black men.

More details to come on this breaking news story…