27 Years Wrongly on Ohio's Death Row: Help Elwood Jones, Jr. Rebuild

* Cover photo Copyright Cincinnati Enquirer - used without permission

Hamilton County Prosecutor Connie Pillich for­mal­ly dis­missed the case against Elwood Jones on December 12, 2025, end­ing a near­ly 30-year saga that saw Mr. Jones spend 27 years on Ohio’s death row for a mur­der he did not com­mit. Read more about the case here .

Hopefully soon, the State of Ohio will fully compensate Elwood, but that process can take months or even years. The good news is that Elwood has the help of family and friends and he has actually been out of prison since he was released on bond in 2023 after his conviction was thrown out and he was granted a new trial in 2022.

Now Elwood gets to rebuild his life, and you can help. Our goal is 27,000 - a mere $1,000 for each year that Elwood spent on Ohio's death row. Elwood would like to be able to afford a place of his own (as he’s been living with family the past three years while on bond) and money for things like being to attend the innocence network conference and travel outside of Hamilton County / Cincinnati now that he’s finally free to do so.

Elwood is grateful for all of the support he has already received, including a small grant from the Michael Graham Death Row Survivors Legacy Fund* and another from Amnesty International's Hannah Grunwald Fund for survivors of human rights violations.

If you would like to send a check directly to Elwood, or save on the GFM fees by sending funds electronically, please use the contact button on this GoFundMe page.

PLEASE NOTE: The suggestion for "tipping" GoFundMe that pops up while donating is just that - a suggestion. Feel free give them whatever, and feel free also to set that to zero.

*FULL DISCLOSURE #1: This GoFundMe is managed by Abraham Bonowitz at the request of Elwood Jones. Abe is not compensated and provides this service as a volunteer, independently of the organization he works for, Death Penalty Action. Death Penalty Action does not manage GoFundMe pages or administer GoFundMe funds.

**FULL DISCLOSURE #2: As a token of gratitude, Elwood Jones has asked that 10% of funds donated on this GoFundMe be designated to the Michael Graham Death Row Survivor Legacy Fund to assist other death row survivors in need of immediate support - typically help covering food, utility bills, rent, medical care and the like. Many Death Row Survivors in the United States received zero compensation and many have limited incomes.