Convicted Killer Of Michael Jordan's Father To Be Released In 2023

One of the two convicted men behind the murder of Michael Jordan’s father is scheduled to be released in 2023 after Tuesday's announcement that Larry Demery has been granted parole 14 years after pleading guilty to first-degree murder, armed robbery, and conspiracy to commit robbery on James Jordan Sr.

"Under the agreement, the offender's parole release date is 8/6/2023," North Carolina's Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission announced in a press release.

Jordan was shot dead while he was sleeping inside his car along a highway in North Carolina on July 23, 1993. The victim’s body was found 11 days after, but it was not until his Lexus was found in the woods in Fayetteville nearly two weeks later before he was identified.

Three years later, Demery and his partner-in-crime, Daniel Green, were sentenced to life imprisonment in what prosecutors described as a “deadly carjacking by two thrill-seeking troublemakers.”

During the trial, Demery testified against Green, whom he accused of pulling the trigger that took the life of the basketball icon’s father. Years after the crime, however, Green continues to maintain his innocence.

“It’s been stressful for him,” Christine Mumma, Green’s attorney with the North Carolina Center on Actual Innocence, told The Washington Post in a December 2018 interview. “He’s been feeling like his voice has not been heard.”

Demery and Green are both eligible for release as they are not covered by the current state law that eliminates parole for crimes committed on or after Oct. 1, 1994. The latter, however, will not be eligible until October 2021, according to WRAL.

Michael Jordan was at the peak of stardom at the time of his father’s murder. Shortly after the incident, the NBA great retired, although he clarified that his decision had already been made even before the tragedy.

“He was my rock," Michael said of his father in an episode of The Last Dance Docuseries. "...We were very close. He constantly gave me advice. I remember in ninth grade I got suspended three times in one year, and my father pulled me aside that summer and said: 'Look, you don't look like you're heading in the right direction. You know, if you want to go about doing all this mischievous stuff, you can forget sports.'"

The former Chicago Bulls superstar, however, is reported to have declined to give a comment on the said parole through a spokesperson.