Julius Jones' death sentence was commuted by Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt just hours before Jones was scheduled to be executed for a crime he says he did not commit.

“After prayerful consideration and reviewing materials presented by all sides of this case, I have determined to commute Julius Jones’s sentence to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole,” Stitt said in a statement.

“While we had hoped the governor would adopt the Board’s recommendation in full by commuting Julius’s sentence to life with the possibility of parole in light of the overwhelming evidence of Julius’s innocence, we are grateful that the governor has prevented an irreparable mistake,” said Jones' attorney Amanda Bass.

"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 wrote in a letter.

Jones was sentenced to death in 1999 after he was found guilty of murdering a man named Paul Howell during a carjacking. Jones' clemency petition said he was on death row because of "fundamental breakdowns in the system." Blamed for the guilty verdict were ineffective and inexperienced defense attorneys, racial bias on the jury, and alleged prosecutorial misconduct.

Howell was killed in a carjacking on July 28, 1999, when he, his sister, and his daughters pulled into his parent’s driveway. Howell’s sister described the shooter as a Black man with a white t-shirt, jeans, a black cap, and a red bandana over his face.

Jones, who was 19 at the time and was arrested a few days later when the murder weapon was found in his parent’s house.

Jones maintained he was framed by the actual killer, Christopher Jordan, who testified against him and plead guilty to first-degree murder, and conspiracy to commit robbery. Jordan was sentenced to 30 years in prison but only served half his sentence. Jones maintained Jordan murdered Howell and hid the weapon and Jones’ bandana inside Jones’ house.

Jones argued the eyewitness description of the gunman matched Jordan, not him, and three separate inmates of Jordan said he admitted to them he committed the crime. Jones said the public defenders failed to present his alibi to the jury, and that he was eating dinner with his family the night of the murder.

Jones’ attorney called no witnesses to the trial prior to his original sentence.

More than 6.5 million people signed an online petition asking for Stitt to spare Jones’ life. The case has grabbed the attention of Kim Kardashian and Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, who won a Heisman in his days with the University of Oklahoma.