One of the two men convicted in the 1993 murder of basketball legend Michael Jordan's father will not be released from prison in August 2024, a North Carolina state panel announced Tuesday.
The state Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission said in a news release that the agreement that would have given the man parole "has been terminated," but provided no reason for the change.
Larry M. Demery is currently serving a life sentence after his conviction for the first-degree murder of James Jordan. The commission announced the agreement in 2020 that would release Demery from prison after he took part in a scholastic and vocational program aimed at readying him for life outside prison.
He was initially scheduled for release in August 2023, but it was later delayed by a year. Demery's case will be reviewed again for possible parole on or around Dec. 15, 2023, the commission said in the release.
Greg Thomas, a state Department of Public Safety spokesperson, didn't have additional information on Demery's situation. Generally speaking, Thomas said, a Mutual Agreement Parole Program agreement may be terminated if the prisoner isn't following program guidelines or is violating behavioral rules behind bars.
Demery, now 46, is serving his sentence at a minimum security prison in Lincoln County, northwest of Charlotte, according to data the department posts online. Demery's record shows 19 infractions lodged against him since 2001, including two for "substance possession" earlier this month.
The state presented evidence at trial that James Jordan was killed in July 1993 in his red Lexus as he napped along the side of an access road off U.S. Highway 74 in Lumberton near Interstate 95. Prosecutors had said the motive was robbery.
During the trial, prosecutors used testimony from Demery to identify Daniel A. Green as the triggerman. Jordan's body was found 11 days later in a South Carolina swamp and identified using dental records. Demery and Green were both 18 at the time.
A jury decided on a life sentence plus 40 years for Demery after he pleaded guilty in 1995 to first-degree murder, armed robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery. He was resentenced in 2008 after an error was found in his initial sentencing. Demery then received a life sentence, making him eligible for parole.
A judge sentenced Green to life in prison for murder during the commission of a robbery and 10 years for conspiracy to commit robbery. A judge refused in 2019 to allow an evidentiary hearing that could have led to a new trial for Green.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
