Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield is the latest star athlete to speak out trying to get the state of Oklahoma to overturn Julius Jones' death sentence.
Jones was sentenced to death by a jury in 2002 for the killing of Edmond insurance executive Paul Howell during a carjacking.
Jones has always maintained that he is innocent and there have been some fingers pointed towards a high school acquaintance who might have done it. There has also been talk about racial slurs used by a police officer during the case, and a juror during the trial.
In a letter penned to the Governor of Oklahoma, Baker Mayfield urged him to reconsider the sentence because of the evidence that has come out, and because he didn't receive a fair trial.
.@justice4julius shared this letter with ESPN that Baker Mayfield wrote to the Governor of Oklahoma and the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in support of Julius Jones pic.twitter.com/mPIJQdXIIG
— Jake Trotter (@Jake_Trotter) June 22, 2020
“Every American is supposed to be guaranteed a fair and impartial trial. But when your arresting officer calls you the “n-word,” when a juror calls you the “n-word” and when all of this unfolds in the context of decades of death penalty convictions slanted against black men, it is impossible to conclude that Julius received fair and impartial treatment. The Oklahomans I met are not racist; they are not mean-spirited, and they do not wish to participate in injustice in this day and age. That is why I am confident that when Oklahomans become aware of the facts surrounding Julius Jones and his conviction, they will demand that his sentence be commuted.”
Baker Mayfield was a star player for the Oklahoma Sooners, winning the Heisman Trophy before being drafted with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
The hope by supporters of Jones is that a guy so loved in Oklahoma can help get the state to change their mind.
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