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Why was media not present at Quintin Phillippe Jones' execution? Witnesses kept waiting at office across street

This was reportedly the first execution in Texas in nearly a year, since the execution of Billy Joe Wardlow on July 8, 2020. Four other executions had been set for earlier this year but were either delayed or rescheduled

HUNTSVILLE, TEXAS: Quintin Phillippe Jones was executed on Wednesday evening, May 19. Jones received the lethal injection at the state penitentiary in Huntsville for the September 1999 killing of Berthena Bryant. His execution was carried out without media witnesses present.

Jones was pronounced dead at 6:40 pm on Wednesday -12 minutes after the drugs were administered. Less than an hour before the scheduled execution, the US Supreme Court declined to halt the 41-year-old man’s execution.

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In his final words, Jones said: “I would like to thank all of the supporting people who helped me over the years. To mad Maddie, my twin Sonja, Angie, and all the homies. AKA money and Peruvian queen including crazy Dominican. I was so glad to leave this world a better, more positive place. It’s not an easy life with all the negativities. Love all my friends and all the friendships that I have made. They are like the sky. It is all part of life, like a big full plate of food for the soul. I hope I left everyone a plate of food full of happy memories, happiness and no sadness. I’m done, warden.”

Why was no media present at the execution?

As per a report in the Associated Press, prison agency officials neglected to notify reporters it was time to carry out the punishment. Texas Department of Criminal Justice director of communications Jeremy Desel said that he never received the usual phone call from the Huntsville Unit prison to bring reporters from The Associated Press and The Huntsville Item to the prison. He and the media witnesses were waiting in an office across the street.

“The Texas Department of Criminal Justice can only apologize for this error and nothing like this will ever happen again,” he said, adding that the execution included a number of new personnel who have never participated in the process - this was reportedly the first execution in Texas in nearly a year, since the execution of Billy Joe Wardlow on July 8, 2020. Four other executions had been set for earlier this year but were either delayed or rescheduled.

“Somewhere in that mix there was never a phone call made to this office for me to accompany the witnesses across the street into the Huntsville Unit,” Desel said. He added that he didn’t immediately know if the glitch was a violation of state law or a violation of agency policy. “My assumption is there will be a thorough investigation into how this all transpired and what was missed that allowed it to happen, and I expect that investigation is already underway,” Desel said.

The Associated Press reported that of the previous 570 executions carried out by Texas since capital punishment resumed in 1982, all had at least one media witness.

Reporters are outraged at this "error". The Marshall Project's Keri Blakinger wrote on Twitter, "In case you're wondering why witnesses matter, know that on a regular basis TDCJ does not fully report what the condemned says. Most of the executions I witnessed said it burned. TDCJ never reports that. One shook from Parkinson's tremors as he died. TDCJ denied it."

Jolie McCullough, a reporter for the Texas Tribune said, "Having witnessed executions myself, I can’t overstate how important it is for the media to be a part of them. Officials reports never tell the full picture of what happens when the state wields its greatest power over life. This transparency is necessary."

In 1999, then-20-year-old Jones, a heroin and cocaine addict, killed his great-aunt Berthena Bryant for $30 to buy more drugs. Following a trial, he was convicted of her murder. Based on this conviction and his alleged involvement in two other killings, for which he was never charged, the prosecution argued that Jones was beyond redemption. The jury sentenced him to death.

Some of Bryant’s family members, including her sister Mattie Long, did not want Jones to be executed. Jones was Long’s grandnephew. “Because I was so close to Bert, her death hurt me a lot. Even so, God is merciful. Quintin can’t bring her back. I can’t bring her back. I am writing this to ask you to please spare Quintin’s life,” Long wrote in a letter that was part of Jones’ clemency petition with the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles.