Parole halted for man convicted of killing Michael Jordan’s dad

The scheduled August 2024 parole for one of two men convicted in the murder of Michael Jordan’s father nearly three decades ago has been canceled, a North Carolina state panel said Tuesday.

The state Post-release Supervision and Parole Commission had announced in 2020 that Larry M. Demery would be released as part of an agreement in which he would take part in a scholastic and vocational program designed to prepare him for life outside prison. The initial release date was August 2023, but it was later pushed back by 12 months. The commission said Tuesday that Demery’s “agreement has been terminated” effective immediately, giving no reason. Demery, who is serving a life sentence for the first-degree murder of James Jordan in 1993, will be reviewed again for parole on or about Dec. 15, 2023.

Greg Thomas, a state Department of Public Safety spokesperson, didn’t have additional information on Demery. Generally speaking, Thomas said, a Mutual Agreement Parole Program agreement may be terminated if the prisoner isn’t following program guidelines or is violating behavior rules. Demery, now 46, is serving his sentence at a minimum security prison,

according to data the department posts online. Demery’s record shows 19 infractions lodged against him since 2001, including two for “substance possession” earlier this month.

The state presented evidence at trial that James Jordan was killed in 1993 in his car as he napped along the side of an access road in Lumberton. Prosecutors had said the motive was robbery.