Exclusive: Activist Tiffany Loftin Discusses Death Row Inmate Julius Jones’ Story, How to Get Involved in the ‘Justice for Julius’ Campaign and More

Baller Alert sat down with activist Tiffany Loftin to discuss death row inmate Julius Jones’ story.

Jones has been on death row in Oklahoma for 19 years for a 1999 murder of a white insurance executive, though he’s maintained his innocence and evidence shows that he was wrongfully convicted. His clemency hearing is on October 26th and Loftin fights for the district attorney to be investigated before then.

Tiffany’s passion for Black People in American and racial and social justice has led her to stand and fight for Julius Jones. She discusses the several ways we can help Julius become a free man and the reasons we must continue to fight for what’s right.

Julius Jones was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 2002. He was accused of killing Paul Howell, who was carjacked and fatally shot in 1999. Julius Jones has been on death row in Oklahoma for 19 years for a murder he had no part in. What are the details of the story?

When he was 19 years old minding his business at home with his family,  a friend of his from school pulled up on Paul Howell, a 45-year-old insurance executive who was sitting in the driveway of his parent’s home and shot and killed him — and stole the car. The only witness in the car was Paul Howell’s sister, Megan Toby. The friend took the stolen car to Julius’ house and ask if he could spend the night. Julius didn’t know what was going on but he agreed his friend could stay over. The police arrived looking for the stolen car and suspect. The killer, Julius’ “friend,” told the police that Julius had done it and that he knew where Julius hid the gun. The police arrested Julius while saying racial slurs, — and when they handcuffed him and booked him to come in, the lawyer that he got had never done a death penalty case before. The lawyer later shared that he wasn’t prepared for the case and that Julius’s family testify. There were also contradictions in what the eye-witness described as the killer. All that led to Julius being convicted of a crime he did not commit.

What can we do to help you and to help Julius moving forward?

I’m so glad you asked me that. A lot of us are just finding out about Julius and it’s really because of the heightened pressure of this execution date on November 18th. One of the things that we need to do is educate the masses on Julius. There are two documentaries about him. One was created in 2018 produced by Viola Davis called “The Last Chance.” That documentary can be found on our website at www.justiceforjuliusjones.com. The second video can be found on my Instagram and it shows the entire story of Julius Jones. The more people get a hold of his story, the more power we have to change the direction of his outcome. The second thing we need folks to do is to visit www.justiceforjuliusjones.com and visit www.grassrootslawproject.org. Both of those websites have petitions and call activation numbers so those can call the district attorney and governor’s office. The governor is the only person who can make the decision to reverse and stop the execution of Julius Jones — and he has up to 30 minutes before the execution to do it.

Now he’s a man of faith and usually meets with his minister. Are they allowing him to see his faith pastor?

 Minister Keith, who I had the pleasure of meeting not too long ago, has been Julius’ spiritual advisor since he was 16. In the last couple of years, he has been his spiritual advisor back-and-forth into the prison. There have been conversations ordered by the warden who is now saying that they actually don’t want minister Keith to come into the prison anymore. He is able to still go as of now, but the conversation is that leading up to death watch, November 18th, they want to change the spiritual leader.

What event is happening on October 15th in support of Julius Jones?

If folks are able to make it to Oklahoma City on Friday, we’ll be having a solidarity action at the site where we do the prayer vigil — it’s actually across the street from the Governor’s house. This is as Julius is going on death watch. Folks also call this suicide watch. It’s a mentally violent experience to go to death watch. So we’re going to join him in solidarity. We’re going to let him know he’s not alone. We’re going to let him know we’re still fighting for him and we are not succeeding to the execution date on November 18th. We’re fighting to make sure the clemency hearing goes the way it needs to go.

Where is the friend who accused Julius of shooting and killing Paul Howell?

Great question! He actually testified against Julius 19 years ago for a plea deal of 15 years in jail. He has served his time — the last time I checked, he is no longer in prison. The killer sat in the courtroom looking at an innocent man and testified against him. You can find that information in the documentary and on the website. He knows this is happening to Julius and it’s been rumored that he has actually come out and said “It wasn’t Julius, it was me,” because he feels bad for what’s happening to Julius. Unfortunately, the way that our “injustice” system is set-up, is that even when the person who did it comes out and says “they did it,” it doesn’t mean that you can un-do all the legal proceedings that have happened. There’s still a process that needs to take place and the opportunity for that is October 26th.