In this moment of national reckoning on racial injustice that has gripped the United States following the deaths of Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and many others, athletes have played a leading role in keeping hard conversations on race at the forefront of the national dialogue.
Athletes have hit the streets to lead rallies against racial injustice. Predictably, U. Louis in Moore was there to greet him. The Julius Jones case has received widespread attention. But in , that strategy seems woefully dated, and athletes are stepping out like never before.
According to Jones and his family, Julius, then 19, could not have killed Howell on the night of July 28, , since he was home at the time of the murder, giving his younger sister and older brother flack for eating a cookie he received for his birthday a few days earlier, and playing Monopoly with his family.
Jones, who was between his freshman and sophomore years at Oklahoma at the time, had played high school basketball. Neither Jones or his family testified about his whereabouts at the trial, however, as the defense rested after the prosecution called its witnesses. For example, in his October commutation application, Jones refers to two inmates who allegedly said they had overheard an associate of Jones, Christopher Jordan, brag about framing Jones as the shooter Jordan was in jail for his role in the Howell murder.
This information also failed to come out at trial. Jordan, who initially offered inconsistent statements about the incident to police, testified against Jones and received a 30 year-to-life sentence, but served 15 years and was released in Jones has argued that racism plagued his case.
