A local man convicted in the September 2002 shooting of 20-year-old Joshua Murphy was released on parole on March 9.

Melvin Eugene Turnbill was sentenced to 25 years after he plead guilty in DeKalb County Criminal Court in 2003 to facilitating first degree murder. Turnbill and a co-defendant, Christopher Nicholas Orlando, were accused of killing Murphy in a wooded area of the Laurel Hill Community. Turnbill has served more than 12 years of his sentence.

Members of the Tennessee Board of Parole voted last year to release Turnbill on supervised parole. He was required to complete a substance abuse program called and a release plan was to be approved. Board members also decided that Turnbill should receive substance abuse after-care after his release, and that he be assessed for substance abuse treatment while on parole.

Prosecutors in the case said that Turnbill and Orlando lured Murphy to his death because they suspected him of stealing methamphetamine. His body was discovered three days later.

Orlando, who was convicted of the actual shooting, was convicted in DeKalb County Criminal Court Jury in April, 2004. He is serving a 45-year sentence for facilitation of first degree murder, and is currently incarcerated at the Northeast Correctional Complex in Mountain City. Orlando’s last parole request was denied in March, 2013. He will be up for parole again next year.