Death row inmate pleads for mercy in video ahead of execution in Texas

Victims’ surviving relative petitions for clemency for 41-year-old

Quintin Jones is scheduled to die by injection Wednesday, 19 May, 2021 (New York Times)

Quintin Jones, an inmate in Texas convicted of fatally beating his 83-year-old great aunt, is set to be put to death in the first execution in the state of 2021.

In a remarkable video message from prison released on 10 May, Mr Jones pleads with Texas governor Greg Abbott for mercy.

Jones will be put to death by lethal injection on Wednesday, despite pleas from family members and his defence team to commute the sentence.

The 41-year-old was found guilty of killing Berthena Bryant in September 1999, nearly 22 years ago. Jones has asked for clemency and for his death sentence to be changed to life in prison.

Prosecutors said Jones beat his great aunt with a bat at her home in Fort Worth and took $30 from her purse to buy drugs.

Jones’ attorney, Michael Mowla has said that Jones is intellectually disabled and that his death sentence is based on discredited testimony.

The defence lawyer has also said that Jones’ history of drug and alcohol abuse, which began in adolescence, and physical and sexual abuse were never considered at his trial.

Members of Bryant’s family have also called for a stay in the execution, including her sister Mattie Long, Jones’ great-aunt.

“Because I was so close to Bert, her death hurt me a lot. Even so, God is merciful. Quintin can’t bring her back. I can’t bring her back. I am writing this to ask you to please spare Quintin’s life,” she said in a letter petitioning for his clemency.

Jones says he is not the same person who killed his great-aunt when he was 20 years old and told The New York Times in a rare video message from prison that he would spend the rest of his life in prison “to better myself and to better others along the way.”

“Another thing that helped me out was my great-aunt, Aunt Mattie. It was her sister. So, by her loving me enough to forgive me, it gave me the strength to try to do better and want to do better,” Jones said.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles voted unanimously on Tuesday to deny the petition and governor Greg Abbott is not expected to overrule the board.

He could still decide to delay the execution by 30 days without recommendation but has never chosen to do so.

In court documents filed last week, prosecutors argued the death sentence was justified due to Jones’ violent history, including assaulting teachers and participating in two other murders.

The Texas Tribune reported that Jones largely attributed responsibility for the murders, for which he wasn’t convicted, on another man who was sentenced to life in prison for the two crimes.

A number of high-profile figures have also campaigned against the execution going ahead, including actors Mandy Patinkin and Sarah Paulson.

“We are a nation that prides itself on second chances. Quin is clear-eyed that he deserves to be in prison for the rest of his life,” Suleika Jaouad, a writer who has corresponded with Jones for a decade, said.

She added in a post on Facebook: “He hasn’t forgotten his crime, and he’s not asking us to forgive or to forget. But he is seeking redemption.”

If the execution goes ahead it will be the first execution to be carried out in Texas in 2021, with the state having taken a 10-month hiatus in carrying out the sentences amid the pandemic since last July.

While Texas is usually the nations most prolific death penalty state, in 2020 it executed only three inmates, the fewest executions in nearly 25 years.

Reporting by the Associated Press