JACKSON, Miss. (WJTV) – One Jackson family is pleading for help as the convicted killer of two family members could be released on parole due to a 2021 U.S. Supreme Court decision.

James Williams III shot and killed his father, James Williams, Jr., and step-mother, Cindy Lassiter Mangum, in South Jackson in 2001. He was convicted in 2005.

Williams was 17 at the time of the double homicide and was originally sentenced to two consecutive life terms with no possibility of parole.

He could be released due to a U.S. Supreme Court decision, which ruled juveniles should be given the possibility of parole.

The family said they were never contacted by the parole board before hearing about Williams’ release.

“It’s horrifying. I you know, it’s so unexpected. I don’t… I’m at a loss of words, basically. I mean, what do you… what do you… what do you say? You’ve gone 20 years of a guy not getting out of jail and being told that he would never get out of jail to now, here’s a tentative release date,” said Zeno Mangum, the son of Cindy Lassiter Mangum.

WJTV 12 News has reached out to the parole board, and we are waiting to hear back from them.