Killer of Michael Jordan's Dad to Leave Prison in 2023

Larry Demery, imprisoned since 1996, learns his parole date
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 19, 2020 12:31 PM CDT
Killer of Michael Jordan's Dad Gets Parole Date
In this March 12, 2011, file photo, former Chicago Bull Scottie Pippen, left, addresses the crowd as Michael Jordan and teammates from their 1990-91 season celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Bulls' first NBA championship.   (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)

One of two men convicted of murdering Michael Jordan's father has set his sights on Aug. 6, 2023—the date he'll finally walk out of prison. Larry Demery's parole date was announced by North Carolina officials on Tuesday, following a "three-way agreement" between Demery, the Division of Prisons, and the Mutual Agreement Parole Program, which WECT reports is "a scholastic and vocational program." A rep for the state Department of Public Safety notes Demery will receive assistance in preparing for life after prison, per CBS News. He's been locked up since 1996.

He was convicted of first-degree murder in the July 23, 1993, killing of 56-year-old James Jordan—who was fatally shot while sleeping in his red Lexus, a gift from his son, along a highway in Lumberton and then disposed of in a swamp—and sentenced to life in prison plus 40 years. Because of an error in his initial sentencing, he was re-sentenced to life in 2008, "making him eligible for parole," per the AP. Daniel Green was also convicted of the killing, which prosecutors said was motivated by robbery, and was sentenced to life in prison plus 10 years. Both men were 18 at the time of the crime and accuse the other of pulling the trigger. Green claims Demery left a cookout they were both at to head to a drug deal and returned shaken and asking for help getting rid of a body, which Green says he did assist with. (More parole stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X