Kim Kardashian West visits Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones. What’s the latest?

Kim Kardashian West met with death row inmate Julius Jones at an Oklahoma prison Monday in her continued campaign for prison reform.

Jones, a Black man, was arrested in 1999 in the shooting death of white businessman Paul Howell. Despite maintaining his innocence, Jones was convicted in 2002, according to the Justice for Julius campaign.

Eyewitnesses to the carjacking and murder said they saw the shooter wearing a red bandanna, and the murder weapon was found in a red bandanna at Jones’ parents’ home, according to the Oklahoma Attorney General’s Office. A 19-year-old college student at the time, Jones never took the stand during the murder trial, KFOR reported.

His case was presented in the 2018 ABC documentary, “The Last Defense,” which was produced by Viola Davis and helped bring national attention to his story.

The campaign states Kardashian West became involved after watching the documentary. She has tweeted frequently about Jones since 2019.

“We cannot execute another man especially for a crime he didn’t commit!” she tweeted in March. “Everyone has to hear about Julius Jones, he is innocent and yet sentenced to death in Oklahoma.”

“I believe Julius is innocent and the state of Oklahoma must act now to save this man’s life. #JusticeforJulius,” she said in July, directing the tweet at Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt.

She has also received vocal support from high-profile athletes, such as Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield and Detroit Pistons forward Blake Griffin.

But in a July press conference while releasing new information, Oklahoma Attorney General Mike Hunter said false statements are being spread about the case and the right man is in prison.

“The fact is, Julius Jones murdered Paul Howell in cold blood in front of his sister and daughters,” Hunter said. “No celebrity imploration or profusion of misinformation will change that.”

A group of faith leaders and social justice advocates wrote to Stitt and the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board in August seeking commutation of Jones’ sentence, The Oklahoman reported. He first applied for clemency last year, the publication reported.

A Change.org petition calling for justice for Jones has been signed by 6.1 million people.

After meeting with Jones on Monday at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, Kardashian West met his family in Oklahoma City, according to public affairs firm Amber Integrated. The specifics of the meetings are unclear.

“Our family knows that Julius did not commit this murder, because Julius was at home with us at the time of the murder,” Madeline Jones, Julius Jones’ mother, said in a statement. “We were at home playing board games and eating spaghetti. The judge and jury that convicted and sentenced my son to die never heard that we were having a family game night. Julius’ attorney never gave us the opportunity to tell them about where Julius was. My son did not kill anyone because he was home with his family.”

Cece Jones-Davis, who started the petition and the Justice for Julius coalition, said Jones simply wants an opportunity to tell his side of the story in front of a judge.

“Here is a man with an alibi, who did not match the eye-witness description of the shooter, and who was convicted by the testimony of incredibly unreliable witnesses motivated by secret plea deals,” Jones-Davis said. “It has been more than one year since Julius submitted his commutation application and we want the Pardon and Parole Board to grant Julius a hearing that will be full and fair and will also allow the board to consider the new evidence. Anything less would be a tremendous miscarriage of justice.”

Kardashian West has been dubbed “a force in the world of criminal justice reform” by The New York Times. She began taking on more cases after helping free Alice Marie Johnson from prison in 2018, CBS News reported earlier this year.

Her Oxygen Network show that debuted this spring, “The Justice Project,” highlights her quest to bring awareness to the mass incarceration issue.

This story was originally published November 24, 2020 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Kim Kardashian West visits Oklahoma death row inmate Julius Jones. What’s the latest?."