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Convicted Killer Of NBA Star's Grandfather Is Now Parole-Eligible

A North Carolina man convicted in the death of NBA star Chris Paul's grandfather has become eligible for parole after a recent court ruling.

Forsyth County Superior Court Judge David Hall granted a motion Thursday to resentence 29-year-old

to life with the possibility of parole.

That means he will be eligible for parole in 12 years.

According to the Winston-Salem Journal, prosecutors opposed the resentencing.

Banner was 16 when a jury convicted him in 2004 of first-degree murder in the death of Paul's grandfather, Nathaniel Jones.

Banner was sentenced to life without parole, as was his brother.

In 2012, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that judges cannot give mandatory life sentences to juveniles. In 2016, the court decided that ruling would be applied retroactively.

Sean Bueter joined WFDD in August 2015 as a reporter covering issues across the Piedmont Triad and beyond.Previously, Sean was a reporter, host and news director at WBOI in Fort Wayne, Ind., just a few hours from where he grew up. He also sorted Steve Inskeep's mail as an intern at NPR in Washington, D.C.Sean has experience on a variety of beats, including race, wealth and poverty, economic development, and more. His work has appeared on NPR's Morning Edition and All Things Considered, and APM's Marketplace.In his spare time, Sean plays tennis (reasonably well), golf (reasonably poorly), and scours local haunts for pinball machines to conquer.

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