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Governor Roy Cooper commutes sentences, issues pardons of forgiveness Tuesday

Tuesday, The State of North Carolina said Governor Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of six people in North Carolina prisons and granted pardons of forgiveness to four others.
Posted 2022-12-21T00:14:53+00:00 - Updated 2022-12-21T00:24:01+00:00
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Tuesday, The State of North Carolina said Governor Roy Cooper commuted the sentences of six people in North Carolina prisons and granted pardons of forgiveness to four others.

The state said two commutations resulted from recommendations by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board, which the Governor established to review petitions from people sentenced to prison after crimes committed while they were under the age of 18.

All of the clemency applications were reviewed by the Office of Executive Clemency, the Office of General Counsel and the Governor.

“Ensuring fairness in our justice system through executive clemency is a responsibility I take seriously,” said Governor Cooper. “We carefully consider research and recommendations made by the Juvenile Sentence Review Board to commute sentences for crimes committed by minors. All of these individuals are deserving of clemency and we will continue to work to protect our communities and improve the fairness of our justice system.”

The six people whose sentences Cooper commuted are:

  • 37-year-old Donnie Parker. Parker served 20 years in prison for his role at age 17 in the murder and robbery of Lila Burton McGhee in Person County. The Juvenile Sentence Review Board recommended this commutation. His sentence was commuted to time served. Parker’s projected release date would have been in August 2024.
  • 44-year-old Benjamin Williams. Williams served 28 years for his role at age 16 in the murder of Kenneth L. Freeman in Edgecombe County. The Juvenile Sentence Review Board recommended this commutation. His sentence was commuted to time served. Williams was scheduled to be released on parole in August 2023.
  • 37-year-old Kolanda Wooten. Wooten served 19 years in prison for her role at age 17 in the murder of Jamaal Rashaud Pearsall in Wayne County. Her sentence was commuted to time served.
  • 50-year-old Joey Graham. Graham served 12 years for drug trafficking in Mecklenburg County. Graham is an Air Force veteran. His sentence was commuted to time served.
  • 38-year-old TiShekka Cain. Cain served seven years for drug trafficking in Guilford County. Her sentence was commuted to time served. Her projected release date would have been December 2024.
  • 44-year-old Janet Danahey. Danahey served 20 years for the murder of Ryan Bek, Elizabeth Harris, Donna Llewellyn, and Rachel Llewellyn in Guilford County. Danahey’s sentence was commuted to make her parole eligible on January 1, 2023.

Following Danahey's trial, the father of Elizabeth Harris, Bob Harris, visited Danahey in prison. Bob Harris said Danahey was trembling when she admitted what she did and asked for his forgiveness.

"I had to know," he said of the decision to visit Danahey in 2012. "That's what I needed to hear."

In 2012, Harris told WRAL News being able to hear Danahey's confession is one reason he supported her request for clemency.

The four people who received pardons of forgiveness are:

  • 50-year-old Stefany Lewis. Lewis was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury in Robeson County in 1991 when she was 18. She has since worked as a childcare provider for many years.
  • 67-year-old Cathy Grimes. Grimes was convicted of possession with intent to sell and deliver cocaine in Wayne County in 1979 when she was 23. She has worked as a nurse for many years and is licensed in Maine and New York.
  • 46-year-old Eric Colburn. Colburn was convicted of drug offenses and discharging a weapon into an occupied property in New Hanover County in 2001 when he was 23. He is a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps who has worked in finance for many years and been an active volunteer in organizations supporting veterans and children.
  • 60-year-old Brenda French. French was convicted of drug and forgery offenses in Forsyth County in 1986 and 1987 when she was 23; She has worked for years in Forsyth County to help people address addiction issues.

The state says a pardon of forgiveness reflects the state’s recognition that an individual is forgiven for a past crime and may relieve the recipient from collateral consequences of the past conviction.

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