A North Carolina judge has vacated the convictions of four men previously found guilty in the 2002 death of NBA star Chris Paul’s grandfather, Nathaniel Jones, prompting state prosecutors to consider an appeal. Superior Court Judge Robert Broadie issued the ruling last week after a January hearing in Forsyth County, citing recanted testimony from a key witness, inadequate legal representation, and questionable police conduct. DNA evidence also supported the defendants’ claims that their confessions were false and that they were not at the scene when Jones, 61, was tied up, beaten, and robbed outside his Winston-Salem home, suffering a fatal heart attack.
The defendants—Nathaniel Arnold Cauthen, Rayshawn Denard Banner, Christopher Levon Bryant, and Jermal Matthew Tolliver—were 14 or 15 at the time of their arrests. Cauthen and Banner, convicted of first-degree murder, are serving life sentences, while Bryant, Tolliver, and Dorrell Brayboy, who was later fatally stabbed in 2019, had been convicted of second-degree murder and served prison terms. Attorney General Jeff Jackson’s office requested a temporary halt to Broadie’s order to review the case. Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O’Neill criticized the judge for dismissing the cases “with prejudice,” potentially limiting appeal options, while defense attorney Christine Mumma defended the ruling as within the judge’s legal authority and consistent with North Carolina statutes recognizing such dismissals.
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