North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is ending the prison terms of three people who were convicted for murders committed when they were teenagers.
“The commutations follow an intensive review of their cases, including the length of their sentences, their records in prison, and their readiness to succeed outside of prison,” states a press release issued Thursday by Cooper’s office.
The cases were the first recommended to Cooper by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board, which he established last year. North Carolina stopped assigning most 16- and 17-year-olds to prosecution in adult court in December 2019.
The cases fit into a larger national conversation about whether people who committed serious crimes as youth and received long or life prison sentences should get a second chance.
“Studies of brain development and psychology show fundamental differences between juvenile and adult minds and behavior, and state and federal law treat children differently from adults for the purpose of sentencing,” the release states.
Racial disparities among young people sent to adult court are also a concern. More than 80 percent of people sent to North Carolina prisons for crimes they committed as juveniles are people of color, the release notes.
The three people whose sentenced were shortened included:
▪ April Leigh Barber, 46, who pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder in 1992 for her role in the murder of her grandparents. Sentenced to two terms of life in prison, Barber was 15 at the time of the murder.
▪ Joshua McKay, 37, who served 20 years in prison for the murder of Catherine Young in Richmond County. McKay, who was 17 at the time of the killing, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in 2002. He was sentenced to up to 20 years, five months in prison.
▪ Anthony Willis, 42, who served 26 years in prison for the murder of Franklin Miller in Cumberland County. Willis, who was 16 during the time of the killing, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 1997 and other crimes. He was sentenced to life in prison.
The three people will be on post-release supervision.
State Rep. Marcia Morey, a Durham Democrat, said more than 300 inmates fit the criteria for review that the governor set in his executive order.
The board has reviewed roughly 35 cases and she expects others to be recommended for clemency in the coming months, said Morey, a former district court judge and member of the review board. Not all whose cases were reviewed have been recommended for early release.
“We get into the crime, we get into their history, we get into all the prison records, any infractions, all the programs that have been offered that have been completed,” Morey said. “And their statements. Statements of remorse are very important.”
Individuals who want to have their sentences reviewed need to submit petitions, which have been made available to those eligible, the release states.
“Most of the individuals who enter prisons will return to their communities one day. Providing high quality, evidenced based treatment and programming is a top priority for our prison system,” said Department of Public Safety Secretary Eddie Buffaloe in the release.
“These commutations should inspire individuals who are incarcerated to use all available resources to better themselves and prepare for a successful return to society,” Buffaloe wrote.
Other members of the review board include former state Rep. Mickey Michaux Jr., former U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Thomas Walker and former U.S. Court of Appeals Judge for the Fourth Circuit Allyson Duncan.
Creation of the board was among many recommendations from the Governor’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice report that called for widespread changes to address bias within the state’s policing and criminal justice systems.
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