Man convicted of killing Michael Jordan’s dad granted parole, to be released in 2023

RALEIGH, NC (NewsNation) — One of the two men convicted with the 1993 killing of James Jordan, father of basketball legend Michael Jordan, has been granted parole.

Larry M. Demery has been granted parole and is scheduled for release in 2023, according to the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission.

Demery and Daniel Green were convicted in the murder and armed robbery in the death of James Jordan in Lumberton, North Carolina.

During their trial, prosecutors used testimony from Demery to identify Daniel Green as the main triggerman in the deadly robbery of James Jordan early on July 23, 1993. 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.

Larry Demery (NC Dept. of Public Safety)

Green has said Demery and himself were both at a cookout when Demery left to meet someone for a drug deal. Green said he stayed at the party because he was talking to a woman there.

When Demery returned to the party hours later, Demery appeared shaken and asked him to help him dispose of James Jordan’s body in the swamp, Green said. According to Green, Demery told him that he mistook James Jordan for a drug connection and shot him after a fight.

The state presented evidence at trial that James Jordan was killed 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.

Green admitted to helping Demery dump the body off a bridge into a swamp just over the state line in McColl, South Carolina. The two men later rode around in the Lexus for several days, making calls from the car phone.

In 2018, attorney Hugh Rogers, who represented Demery, said the case pits the men’s accounts against each other but ultimately more evidence corroborated Demery’s version.

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. The sentences were to be served consecutively.

At Wednesday’s parole hearing, prosecutors once again pointed to a video in which Green rapped while wearing an NBA All-Star ring and gold watch that Michael Jordan gave his father. Green said he got the jewelry from the car console days after the killing.

The Robeson County Sheriffs office, which handled the murder investigation, has not commented yet on Demery’s parole.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NewsNation affiliate WBTW contributed to this report.