Man convicted of murder to be released from prison

DAVIDSON COUNTY - A man previously sentenced to life in the 1989 murder of a Thomasville man is set to be released from prison in February.

Jeffery Lynn Spivey was sentenced to life plus 14 years in June 1989 for the first-degree murder of Travis C. Coleman, 47, of Fisher Ferry Road, Thomasville. He was also convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and felony larceny.

During the trial, Spivey confessed he had hit Coleman with a baseball bat numerous times and then stole several items from his home after the incident. He also confessed to an armed robbery of an individual at a later date, according to court records.

Spivey is set for release from prison on Feb. 6. and will be under supervised post-release probation for five years.

According to information provided by the North Carolina Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission, the state’s current sentencing law eliminates parole for crimes of murder or rape committed on or after Oct. 1, 1994.

However, the Commission must follow the guidelines for prisoners sentenced under previous sentencing guidelines. Under earlier North Carolina law, life sentences were eligible for parole after 10 or 20 years, depending on the crime for which they were convicted.

In 2020, the North Carolina Post Release Supervision and Parole Commission announced Spivey would be eligible for parole via the Mutual Agreement Parole Program. MAPP is a scholastic and vocational program that is a three-way agreement between the commission, the North Carolina Division of Prisons and the offender.

The program is designed to prepare selected offenders for release through structured activities; scheduled progression in custody, participation in community-based programs and established parole. Once an offender has completed all criteria of the program in a period between 12 and 36 months, they are eligible for release.

This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Man convicted of Thomasville murder to be released from prison