Larry Demery: Man who shot Michael Jordan's father dead while he was asleep in his car granted parole
One of the two men who killed Michael Jordan's father James Jordan in 1993 and received a life sentence was granted parole on Tuesday, August 18. Larry Demery will reportedly be paroled in August 2023, three decades later he and Daniel Green murdered James. Demery was given parole through the Mutual Agreement Parole Program (MAPP), a scholastic and vocational program, a release from the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission stated.
According to reports, James was killed on July 23, 1993, while he was asleep in his cherry-red Lexus on a highway in Lumberton, North Carolina. Demery and Green shot the 56-year-old victim and stole the vehicle that Michael had gifted to his father. Both the men were convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison in 1996. North Carolina has canceled giving parole to convicts serving a life sentence, unless their crimes were committed before October 1, 1994. And since Demer murdered James before the amendment, he was still eligible.
The killers were reportedly 18 at the time when they killed the father of the basketball legend. James’ body was later discovered in a swampy area of McColl, South Carolina in August 1993. As part of a plea deal, Demery testified against Green, claiming the latter shot James. Green, on the other hand, blamed Demery and said that the latter asked him to help in disposing of the body. Green also claimed that he was not at the scene when the murder took place.
During the trial, Demery said he and his co-defendant were actually planning to rob a motel when they saw the expensive car and changed their plan. The two accused also apparently had no idea that their victim was Michael Jordan’s father until they searched through his belongings. "I believe we've killed Michael Jordan's daddy," Demery said Green told him at the time.
Meanwhile, the 57-year-old legend has declined to comment on the latest development. Earlier, it was said that the killing of his father left him devastated. Months after the tragedy, Michael retired but claimed that he had already made the decision before it. In a documentary titled ‘The Last Dance’, Michael Jordan called his father his "rock." He also addressed wild conspiracy theories regarding the circumstances of his father’s death and his abrupt departure from the game.
“It did hurt. But you had people that were throwing darts who wanted to hurt me anyway. It wasn't from the people that I loved or the people that knew me and people that cared. It was people that got tired of me being on top,” Michael said as per Newsweek. “I didn't retire because the league kicked me out or they suspended me for a year and a half. That is not true. There's no truth to that. I needed a break. My father just passed. And I retired. And I retired with the notion that I wasn't going to come back."
Also in 1996, he had said of his father that he thinks "about him every day. I’m pretty sure I always will. Every day of my life."