A death row inmate in Oklahoma has had his life spared just hours before his execution.
Julius Jones was set to be executed by lethal injection at 4 PM on Friday, November 19. He had already eaten his 'last meal' - a combination of KFC, McDonald's, and Pizza Hut - when Oklahoma's governor Kevin Stitt called for a halt to proceedings.
Governor Stitt has since commuted Jones’ sentence to life imprisonment with parole.
Jones has been on death row since 2002 when he was convicted for killing Paul Howell during a carjacking three years earlier.
The 41-year-old prisoner maintains his innocence, and his case has attracted the support of reality TV star Kim Kardashian and anti-death penalty activists.
In 2018 he featured on the ABC documentary series The Last Defence, and more than six million people have signed a Justice for Julius petition online.
Jones' execution was scheduled to take place at the state penitentiary in McAlester today.
Governor Stitt's intervention came at the last minute, after what he described as "prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case," BBC News reports.
The change in Jones’ sentence was so last minute that he had already eaten his last meal. The cost of the food could not exceed $25, per the Oklahoma Department of Corrections policy.
The Washington Post reports that Jones made the humble choice of two KFC sandwiches with lettuce, tomato and mayo, one large McDonald's fries with ketchup, and a meat-lovers pizza from pizza hut. Alongside the food, he had a bottle of water.
In October, Jones was among five people to win stays of execution from a three-judge panel of the 10th Circuit US Court of Appeal.
In a letter addressed to the parole board in April, Jones wrote: "I did not kill Mr Howell. I did not participate in any way in his murder; and the first time I saw him was on television when his death was reported."
Jones has maintained his innocence since he was first arrested at the age of 19. His attorneys have argued that he was framed for the murder of Howell by a former friend.