Page 34 - Florida Sentinel 8-28-20

National
Man Convicted Of Killing Michael Jordan’s Father Granted Parole
Breonna Taylor Billboard Vandalized In Louisville
BREONNA TAYLOR BILLBOARD
LARRY DEMERY Larry Demery, who
pleaded guilty to killing James Jordan, father of basketball star Michael Jor- dan, leaves a courthouse in Lumberton, N.C., in 1996.
One of two men convicted of murdering Michael Jor- dan’s father will be out of jail in 2023.
Larry Demery, 45, is scheduled for release on pa- role on Aug. 6, 2023, Wilm- ington, N.C., CBS affiliate WWAY reported. Demery was convicted in 1996 for the
In this Feb. 17, 1989 photo, Chicago Bulls' Michael Jordan serves his father, James, a slice of birthday cake as his mother, Doloris, watches during a party in honor of Jordan's 26th birth- day in Chicago, Ill.
A billboard that was erected by Oprah Winfrey in mem- ory of Breonna Taylor was vandalized with red paint that was splashed across her face.
Earlier this month, Win- frey had 26 billboards erected – one to represent each year of Taylor’s life – in Taylor’s hometown of Louisville, Ken- tucky as a call to justice.
It directed people to the Until Freedom website to en- courage them to contact city and state officials to apply pressure on them to arrest the three police officers involved in Taylor’s death.
“Demand that the police in-
volved in killing Breonna Taylor be arrested and charged. Visit UntilFree- dom.com,” the billboard reads.
Those good intentions were marred when motorists saw that one of the billboards was defaced on Tuesday morning, The Courier-Journal reports.
The desecrated billboard is on Lexington Road in Louisville. The red paint ap- peared to be splashed to re- semble blood coming from Taylor’s forehead. The EMT was shot eight times in March after police conducted a no- knock raid on her apartment that she was not the target of.
1993 murder of James Jor- dan.
Demery and his friend, Daniel Green, were both sentenced to life in prison for the murder. Each has said the other fired the shots.
James Jordan was sleep- ing in his car on July 23, 1993, in Lumberton, N.C., when he was fatally shot. He was 56.
Demery, who was 17 at the time, pleaded guilty to first- degree murder, armed rob- bery and conspiracy to commit robbery. At his 1996
trial, Demery said that Green was the triggerman in a carjacking gone wrong. That testimony led to Green’s con- viction for the same crimes.
Green has claimed for 27 years that he is innocent. He says that Demery killed Jor- dan, and he simply helped him hide Jordan’s body. Green remains in prison and has not been granted parole.
Demery’s release on pa- role is contingent on contin- ued good behavior, Raleigh ABC affiliate WTVD reported.
Tennessee Mom Of 3 Is Fatally
Shot Inside Her Home, And
21-Year-Old Son Is Suspect
A Tennessee mother of three was fatally shot in her home last weekend, and the suspect in the killing is one of her three sons.
Curdarius Cross, 21, was charged Tuesday with first-de- gree murder in the death of his
53-year-old mother, wanna Cross.
She-
Jackson Police Department officers discovered the mom, who was a correctional facility counselor, on Sunday at about 2 p.m. in her bed with gunshot wounds to her head and body.
“Officers observed and col- lected two spent cartridge cas- ings, one live cartridge and a 9 mm handgun,” states a warrant obtained by PEOPLE.
The victim's son told police he was in his bedroom at the time and heard his mother scream, and then heard multiple gunshots.
“He looked out into the hall- way connecting his and his mother’s bedroom when he ob- served his brother Curdarius Cross standing in the hallway with a gun,” the warrant states.
According to the warrant, he broke his bedroom window to escape and “saw his brother chasing him and heard three to four more gunshots.”
SHEWANNA CROSS
Police said the back door knobs were shot and the doors looked like they had been kicked.
Cross was taken into cus- tody Sunday night in Nashville. In an interview with police, he denied having anything to do with his mother’s death and claimed he was at work at the time of the shooting.
“Curdarius Cross stated that he was at work in Nashville at 3 p.m. which is disproved by phone records,” the warrant al- leges.
He was initially arrested on a second-degree murder charge.
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