I feel the soul connection that you have and I so appreciate the love that you share with us as well. Every time that we've talked, your love for your brother, your commitment, it is at the level of your soul. Melissa Harris-Perry: Antoinette, I appreciate. I thank God for the light that we are sharing. He still wants to share his thoughts, his dreams, his goals, and he's still pouring into young people and adults.Įven after the scheduled execution date of November 18th, there are people who've been telling me that they didn't believe that there was God, but because they were fighting for Julius, they knew it was something that was keeping them coming to prayer vigils, keeping them coming and staying connected. He still has a sensitive, loving heart and he still wants to love on people. I thank God that we have a relationship because without God, I don't know if I could have made 23 years and I don't know if my brother can make 20 years, but I thank God he has a sound mind. Just thinking about all that my parents have endured, the nasty words, the evil things that we have had done to us, but God sustained us. He witnessed, I believe, at least I don't even know how many executions that he knew about that were going to happen because before he was on death watch, he was near the death chamber anyway. Just thinking about my brother being on death watch. I will say, after processing all of that, that was a lot, that was torturous. I said, "Remarkably, I feel really calm and I did all that I can do and I know it's in God's hands." I want to say a little bit after 12:00, maybe 12:03 or 12:04, we got the news that the governor is going to stay the execution, which was four hours before the scheduled execution. She was asking me questions and she just asked me, she was like, "How do you feel about today? I don't even know how to ask you that." When we got down to McAlester and we turned at the E-Z Mart, I believe it's like a convenience store, I happened to walk past one of the reporters and she noticed it was me and I was just going to the bathroom. Antoinette, can you tell me about the day your brother was scheduled to be executed.Īntoinette Jones: The morning of November 18th, we drove and we were praying in silence and I know it was a pretty tough moment, but I still felt good about what was going to happen that day. They stop by to talk with us at The Takeaway and they give us the latest, both on Julius's case and on their ongoing fight to prove his innocence. This week, the Innocence Project in New York City is honoring the work of Reverend Cece Jones-Davis, the campaign founder and director of Justice for Julius, and Antoinette Jones, sister of Julius Jones for their work to spare Julius's life. Substantial evidence does throw doubt on Jones's guilt, including the fact that multiple people have given sworn statements saying they heard another man, Christopher Jordan, confess to the murder of Paul Howell. Now, Jones was convicted of the murder of Paul Howell in 1999, and it's a crime he maintains he did not commit. Melissa Harris-Perry: On November 18th, Jones was prepared for his execution, but then just 4 hours before the scheduled execution, Oklahoma governor Kevin Stitt commuted Jones' death sentence, issuing an executive order that Jones be sentenced instead to life without the possibility of parole. Reporter: The clock is now ticking louder than ever for Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones. Back in October, we talked with you about the story of Julius Jones and the tireless efforts of his supporters to secure his release from Oklahoma's death row. Melissa Harris-Perry: Welcome back to The Takeaway.
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