Why was Barry Jones arrested? Man wrongfully convicted of a capital crime in Arizona exonerated after 29 years

On Thursday, June 15, 2023, 64-year-old Arizona prisoner Barry Jones was exonerated after 29 years on death row. A court decided that Jones had been wrongfully convicted of murdering his then-girlfriend's 4-year-old daughter in 1994. In a recent development, Jones' lawyers presented evidence that showed that the girl did not sustain her fatal injuries while under Jones' care.

Trigger warning: This article concerns the death of a child, the reader's discretion is advised

According to USA Today, Barry Jones is the first Arizona death row inmate to walk free since 2015. Cary Sandman, a federal public defender, operated in an office that had represented Jones for over two decades.

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The details of Barry Jones' initial 1995 conviction

On May 2, 1994, 4-year-old Rachel Gray was declared dead in an Arizona hospital after sustaining serious internal injuries. After an autopsy, John Howard of the Pima County Medical Examiner’s Office said that she died due to a blow to the stomach. The state claimed that Barry Jones had been taking care of Gray before her death and that he was most likely the perpetrator of the fatal assault.

However, as per The Independent, investigators discovered that Rachel Gray most likely sustained the injuries when she was struck by neighborhood boys with an iron bar two days earlier. Jones claimed that while he should have taken the 4-year-old to the hospital sooner, he was not responsible for the attack. However, Jones was given a plea deal by the court instead of being exonerated.

Despite the new findings of the investigation, Jones' court-appointed lawyer failed to present the evidence adequately to the judge. Therefore, in the initial trial, it was never properly established that Jones was not directly responsible for the injuries.

In an official statement, Cary Sandman argued that the original conviction of Jones was a miscarriage of justice.

“After almost 30 years on death row for a crime, he did not commit, Barry Jones is finally coming home. Mr. Jones spent nearly three decades on Arizona’s death row despite compelling evidence that he was innocent of charges that he had fatally assaulted Rachel Gray,” Sandman said.

In the aftermath of the court decision, Andrew Sowards, a retired criminal defense investigator from the Federal Public Defender Office, started a GoFundMe page to raise money for Barry Jones following his release. The funds are aimed at helping Jones re-adapt to life outside of prison.

The GoFundMe page read:

"To help Barry get started, I'd like to help raise some money that will make his first few months out a little easier. Barry is starting from scratch and will leave prison with nothing."

As of 2023, there are currently 110 remaining inmates on Arizona's death row.