Julius Jones’ mother pleads for Oklahoma governor to call off execution

Julius Jones is scheduled to be executed by lethal injection on Thursday

Julius Jones is scheduled to be executed on Thursday (Supplied)

Julius Jones’ mother has issued an 11th hour plea for Oklahoma Governor Kevin Stitt to call off her son’s execution.

The 41-year-old is due to given a lethal injection on Thursday amid mounting calls for the execution to be stayed.

Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board has recommended the death sentence be commuted, and protestors have held rallies and online prayer vigils.

On Sunday, Jones’ mother Madeline Davis-Jones released a video on the Justice for Julius social media account begging for Governor Stitt to call off her son’s execution.

“@GovStitt, Please send my baby boy home”

(🎥: @thebwstimes) pic.twitter.com/eLL3RKP768

— Justice for Julius (@justice4julius) November 14, 2021

“Governor Stitt, please send my baby boy home,” she said.

“He is innocent and please send him home in Jesus’ name. I ask you. Thank you.”

Jones has been on Death Row for nearly two decades after after he was convicted of the 1999 murder of businessman Paul Howell.

He has always maintained his innocence, claiming he was framed by a key prosecution witness in the murder trial.

Mr Howell’s family insist that a succession of trials and appeals court verdicts have correctly determined that Jones was the killer.

Earlier this month, the state’s Pardon and Parole Board recommended by a 3-1 majority that Jones’ execution should be halted.

Mr Stitt is yet to decide if the execution will be halted, and a spokesperson has told Newsweek there was no timeline for when a decision would be announced over whether the parole board’s decision would be accepted.

On 28 October, Oklahoma executed John Marion Grant by lethal injection after a six-year moratorium on capital punishment in the state.

Grant convulsed about two-dozen times and vomited in what critics described as a “botched” execution.

The state insists the execution was carried out correctly.

Five Republican lawmakers from Oklahoma have joined calls for Jones to be granted clemency.