Panel considers parole for NC officer’s killer

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — A North Carolina panel is considering whether to grant parole to a man convicted of killing a Clayton police officer 32 years ago.

WRAL-TV reported the North Carolina Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission heard from witnesses on Tuesday about the possibility of releasing 64-year-old Bobby Earl Smith.

Smith was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1982 after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the shooting death of Officer William Ray Gilmore Jr.

The panel is considering whether Smith is a threat to public safety. It heard from Gilmore’s mother and other family members who urged the panel to keep Smith in prison.

The 24-year-old Gilmore died after he was shot in the head twice when he and another officer responded to a disturbance call.

Information from: WRAL-TV, http://www.wral.com

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