Cooper pardons 9, commutes sentences for 6, including former NC teen convicted of murder
Updated Dec. 31, 2024: Gov. Roy Cooper grants clemency to 15 death row inmates on his last day in office. Read story here.
Gov. Roy Cooper has pardoned nine people in North Carolina and commuted the sentences of six more, including a Raleigh man sent to prison for life for a murder he committed at age 18.
The governor’s office announced the list Monday, two days before Christmas, making 48-year-old Dwight Jordan eligible for parole. Jordan got a life sentence in 1996 after prosecutors said he burst into another teen’s house demanding drugs and money, then shot him as his mother pulled into their driveway off New Bern Avenue.
Jurors at the time heard a tape of Aaron Poole implicating Jordan from his hospital gurney at WakeMed. Spared the death penalty, Jordan has served 28 years of his sentence, earning both a GED and an associate’s degree while in prison. Whether he is paroled is now up to the N.C. Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission.
“Ensuring careful review of cases while taking executive clemency action is a responsibility I take seriously,” Cooper said in a news release Monday. “We carefully consider 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 criminal justice system.”
Cooper recently pardoned the Rev. Darron Carmon from Pitt County, who served eight years in prison for a robbery he did not commit. Carmon was 19 at the time of his wrongful conviction.
Advocates have also pushed for Cooper to pardon the state’s 136 remaining death row inmates in his final days as governor.
In a statement Monday, Dec. 23, the outgoing governor said he “plans more clemency announcements before the end of the year.”
On Dec. 31, his last day of office, he commuted the sentences of 15 people on death row to life without the possibility of parole. He issued two additional commutations and two pardons of forgiveness.
Other commuted sentences from Cooper’s office Monday are:
▪ Jonathan Burdette, 38, who has served nearly 20 years for armed robbery of a restaurant in Rockingham County when he was 17. He has completed his GED, taken vocational classes, finished an apprenticeship as an electrician and worked in a meat packing plant. He will be released in January.
▪ Sethy Seam, 43, has served roughly 25 years for his participation in the robbery and murder of Harold King Sr. in Davidson County, a crime committed when he was 16. In prison, he took academic and vocational classes, including New Leash on Life which helps train service dogs. Seam will be released in January.
▪ Marquis McKenzie, 47, has served 27 years of a life sentence for the murder of Scottie Bass in Granville County. McKenzie was 19 at the time of the murder, and while incarcerated, he has earned his GED and written a book. McKenzie will now become eligible for parole.
▪ William Dawson, 87, has served 25 years of a sentence for the murder of Nicholas Charles Scott in Craven County. While incarcerated, he has had what officials called an exemplary discipline record. He becomes eligible for parole.
▪ Toney King, 62, has served 30 years for robbing hotels in Rowan, Cabarrus, and Mecklenburg counties. He has since completed a bachelor’s degree and worked in the Field Ministry Program. King will become eligible for parole.
Those pardoned are:
▪ Dakota Bradshaw, 32, was convicted of assault on a government officer and three counts of injury to personal property in 2011 in Haywood County when he was 19. He has since earned a certificate from community college and been gainfully employed.
▪ Sharon Redfearn, 55, was convicted of possession with intent to sell and maintaining a dwelling for the purpose of distributing controlled substances in Mecklenburg County in 1993. She has since has worked as a peer support specialist and helped care for developmentally disabled people.
▪ Donovan Mais, 63, was convicted of drug possession and larceny in Cumberland County in 1987 and 1988. He is a U.S. Army veteran and has worked as both a substance abuse counselor and public health nurse.
▪ John White, 41, was convicted of conspiracy to commit robbery with a dangerous weapon in Wake County in 2002. He was 18 at the time. He has since graduated cum laude from N.C. Central University, served as a mentor and kept a strong work history.
▪ Kimberly Kaszowski, 58, was convicted of two counts of conspiracy, trafficking, possessing, selling, and delivering drugs in 2000 and 2001 in Surry and Stokes counties. She now owns a small business and volunteers with the Surry County Jail Ministry.
▪ Sarah Smith, 46, was convicted of drug possession in 2004 in Onslow County. She has since earned a bachelor’s degree in health care administration and become a licensed respiratory therapist.
▪ Sharif Mosley, 43, was convicted of sale and delivery of a controlled substance in 1997 in Cumberland County. He was 16 at the time. He has since become a father and volunteered at the Belmont Stables.
▪ Thurman Walker, 43, was convicted of two robbery charges in 1998 in Wake County. He was 16 at the time. He has since earned a college degree and worked with adults with developmental disabilities in New York.
▪ Seth Cole, 35, was convicted of attempted robbery with a dangerous weapon in 2006 in Guilford County. He has since graduated summa cum laude with a degree in computer and information systems and worked as both a substance abuse counselor and a systems engineer.
This story was originally published December 23, 2024 at 6:35 PM with the headline "Cooper pardons 9, commutes sentences for 6, including former NC teen convicted of murder."