Howell Family Reacts to Julius Jones Clemency Recommendation

OKLAHOMA CITY (KOKH) — Supporters of Julius Jones were out in numbers as the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board recommended clemency for the death row inmate.

His execution is scheduled for later this month.

Jones’s family is celebrating and hoping the Governor will take the recommendation, but the family of Paul Howell, who Jones was convicted of killing, sees things much differently.

“The facts have been, are, and always will be overwhelmingly pointing towards his guilt,” said Brian Howell, Paul’s brother.

The family believes Jones’s supporters are misinformed and don’t know all the facts in the case.

They’re hoping Governor Stitt will ignore the board’s recommendation.

“We feel confident that Governor Stitt sees past the Jones propaganda, understands protecting the public, and sees who Julius Jones really is,” Brian Howell said. “We feel confident Governor Stitt recognizes how senseless and tragic Paul’s murder truly was.”

When asked if they would accept any other outcome besides Jones’s execution, the family said no, even if the Governor chose to commute his sentence to life with no parole.

The family believes Jones would continue to seek commutation.

“For this to end for us, he either needs the death penalty which was given to him, not chosen by us, but given to him as a sentence for murdering our loved one, or he will ask for commutation and we will go through this year after year after year,” said Megan Howell Tobey, Paul’s sister. “It will never end.”

The family blames the pardon and parole board for allowing a death row inmate to seek commutation in the first place and worries other families will go through the same thing as them.

The family added they were disappointed that board members didn’t ask Jones more questions, saying they would have liked them to ask about his criminal history, his alibi, and his time in prison.

They hope to meet with Governor Stitt but said they did not have a meeting scheduled yet.

Stitt’s office said Monday that he had not made a decision yet.

The Governor plans to travel to Mexico Tuesday and return Thursday.