LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - The Kentucky Parole Board has declined parole for a man convicted of raping and killing a woman whose death led to a statewide notification system for crime victims.
Media reported the board decided on Monday that Donovan Harris should serve out the rest of his life sentence in the 1993 slaying of Mary Byron without another shot a parole.
Byron’s death prompted the creation of Kentucky’s Victim Information and Notification Everyday system. The now-47-year-old Donovan Harris had been released following his indictment on the rape charge without Byron’s knowledge. Byron was shot seven times at the Mall St. Matthews in Louisville weeks later, on her 21st birthday.
Byron’s family and friends had pleaded with the parole board last week to keep Harris behind bars.
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