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Pardons Board Hears Commutation for Byron Dickerson

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DOVER, Del. (AP) - Delaware's Board of Pardons will hear a commutation request from a man serving 35 years in prison for a murder committed when he was 17 years old.

After reviewing the request from Byron Dickerson behind closed doors last month, the board has agreed to hear from Dickerson in person on Oct. 23.

Dickerson was initially sentenced to life in prison without parole for the 1990 contract killing of Kevin Brown, who was his girlfriend's brother.

Dickerson, also known as Bar Salaam Saadiq, was resentenced in 2014 after the U.S. Supreme Court declared mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile killers to be unconstitutional.

Prosecutors say Dickerson offered one of his drug customer's money and cocaine to kill Brown.

Don Rush is the News Director and Senior Producer of News and Public Affairs at Delmarva Public Media. An award-winning journalist, Don reports major local issues of the day, from sea level rise, to urban development, to the changing demographics of Delmarva.