In 1993, Michael Jordan’s father James Jordan was killed while he was sleeping in the passenger seat of his car in what was believed to be a robbery gone wrong. Three years later, Daniel Green, a Philadelphia-born teenager who relocated to North Carolina in third grade, was put on trial for James’ murder.
Green’s case largely relied on the testimony of his classmate Larry Demery, whom the accused became friends with shortly after moving to North Carolina.
In the summer of 1993, according to Green, he and Demery were attending a party at a friend’s house when Demery allegedly left to transact a drug deal. Hours later, Demery returned, asking Green to help him get rid of a corpse.
The accused further testified that Demery told him that the drug deal went wrong and he had fatally shot a man, who turned out to be the father of Michael Jordan, Green would go on to admit that he helped his friend and classmate dispose of Jordan’s body in South Carolina.
Green’s testimony, however, would differ from Demery, who was made a witness of the prosecution. Demery offered a different story, saying that he and Green found Jordan sleeping in his car and Green shot him dead.
Ultimately, Green was handed a life imprisonment sentence and has since remained incarcerated at the Southern Correctional Institution in North Carolina. Demery, his accomplice, is also serving the same sentence.
Judge in Michael Jordan’s father’s murder case pleas for convict’s release on parole
Daniel Green, who was found guilty for the murder of the father of Michael Jordan, has been in prison for over three decades now. Judge Gregory Weeks, who presided over the trial, is now petitioning for him to be released on parole. The judge argued to the North Carolina state parole board on Tuesday that there was key evidence that was concealed in court during the trial.
At the time, the forensic investigator who testified in court said, “It is my opinion that you do have blood [in the vehicle].” The testimony backed up Larry Demery’s story that he and Green found James Jordan sleeping in the car and Green fatally gunned him.
However, the judge, in his argument on Tuesday, said that another test allegedly came back inconclusive for whether the substance found in the car was actually blood.
According to ABC 7, Weeks told the parole board that the situation has “haunted him” for almost 30 years now, and as a means of redemption, he is calling for Green to be paroled.
Meanwhile, Green released a statement via ABC News regarding the development of the case.
“[The judge who] presided over my trial asked that I be paroled is significant. It speaks volumes about this case, and I’m overwhelmingly grateful.”
The North Carolina state parole board is expected to spend “at least one month” before they can come up with a verdict on whether or not to agree to the judge’s petition.
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