Baker Mayfield has a lot going on as the starting quarterback for the Cleveland Browns and has no issues talking about the challenges he faces each day. However, when he began talking about death row inmate Julis Jones, Mayfield got very emotional. When speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Mayfield was asked about Jones, who is set to be executed on Thursday.ย
“Yeah, it’s pretty rough, to be honest with you,” Mayfield said as he began to get choked up, per Yahoo Sports. “That isn’t something that’s easy to talk about. Been trying to get the facts stated and the truth to be told for a while. But it’s tough to think about.”Jones is on death row for the fatal shooting of Paul Howell during a 1999 carjacking in the Oklahoma City area. Jones has maintained his innocence and said his co-defendant Christopher Jordan framed him for the crime. Jordan accepted a plea deal as the getaway driver and was released after serving 15 years in prison.ย
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Jones, 41, was 19 years old at the time and was attending the University of Oklahoma planning to walk onto the basketball team. He said that three separate inmates who served time with Jordan said that he admitted to them he committed the crime. Jones’ lawyers called no witnesses at his trial and failed to present his alibi, which was that he was at home with his parents and sister on the night of the murder.ย
The prosecutors in the case argue that the murder weapon was found wrapped in a red bandana with Jones’ DNA on it in a crawl space of Jones’ parents’ home. They also point to Jordan’s testimony being one of the reasons Jones is guilty. However, there are some aspects of the case that are in question. Along with racial slur by a member of law enforcement, the jury selection has led to some doubts about Jones’ conviction.ย
“We’re not in the same day and age that we once were,” Mayfield said in a brief documentary released by the NFL in 2019. “There is right and there is wrong. It’s not the same old thing as it was, which was always wrong.” All of Jones’ legal appeals have failed, but the execution can be stopped by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt. However, Stitt has refused to meet with Jones’ family, legal team or his pastor.
