Parole Denied for Convicted Murderer

A man convicted in a 1984 slaying of his ex-girlfriend will remain in prison.

Beatrice Williams was stabbed to death in a Northampton County nightclub parking lot. Johnnie Spruill, Williams' ex-boyfriend, was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death.

Spruill was removed from death row in 2005 after a court deemed him mentally retarded. Under old sentencing guidelines, he was given life with the possibility of parole.

Members of Williams' family went to the North Carolina Parole Board to fight his release. They said his parole had been rejected.