Men Accused Of Killing the Grandfather of NBA’s Chris Paul in 2002 Receive a Surprising Fate

The men who were accused of killing Nathaniel Jones, grandfather of NBA point guard Chris Paul, in 2002 , have had their convictions overturned. But there’s a catch.

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Superior Court Judge Robert Broadie ruled in favor of Nathaniel Arnold Cauthen, Rayshawn Denard Banner, Christopher Levon Bryant, and Jermal Matthew Tolliver in their fight to throw out the guilty verdicts against them in trials that took place in 2004 and 2005, per the AP. They were found guilty of killing Jones, who died of a heart attack after he had been robbed, tied, and beaten during a robbery outside his Winston-Salem, N.C. home in 2002.

The men were 14 and 15 at the time of the killing, and Jones was 61 when he was killed. At the time, Paul was a standout high school basketball player and had already committed to play at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem.

The judge heard testimony at a hearing in Forsyth County in January. Judge Broadie ruled on Aug. 8 that the guilty verdict was overturned due to testimony that was recanted from a key witness, as well as poor legal representation and questionable actions by police, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.

He also cited DNA profiles “further serve to corroborate Defendants’ assertions that their confessions were false” and that the defendants “were not present at the scene of the crime,” the judge wrote.

In 2022, Superior Court judges denied the claims of innocence by the convicted men.

The overturned convictions don’t mean that they will be set free: Two of the men are still currently incarcerated; Cauthen and his brother, Banner, after being convicted of first-degree murder, and are serving life sentences. The remaining three — Bryant, Tolliver, and Dorrell Brayboy — were convicted of second-degree murder and have already served their time and have been released from prison. In 2019, Brayboy died after being stabbed outside a Winston-Salem supermarket.

Attorney General Jeff Jackson has requested that the state Court of Appeals pause Broadie’s order “while we review it and consider next steps,” spokesperson Nazneen Ahmed said.