Former Death Row Inmate Approved For Parole In Johnston County Murder

SMITHFIELD, N.C. – A man once sentenced to death for a 2000 Johnston County drive-by shooting that killed Seleana Ceana Nesbitt has been approved for parole, with his release date set for April 2, 2029.

The N.C. Post-Release Supervision and Parole Commission has approved Lamorris Chapman for parole through the Mutual Agreement Parole Program, commonly known as MAPP.

The decision follows an announcement in December 2025 that the commission was investigating Chapman’s case for possible parole through the program.

MAPP is an agreement between the offender, state prison system and Parole Commission designed to prepare selected inmates for eventual release through education, vocational training, behavioral programs and progression through custody levels. Parole dates under the program are conditional, and participants are expected to satisfactorily complete the requirements of their agreements.

Fatal Drive-By Shooting

Chapman was convicted in connection with the July 9, 2000 shooting death of Nesbitt.

According to the court records, Nesbitt was riding in the back seat of a Nissan with her friend Brandy Raquel Smith after leaving Club 39, a nightclub near Mudcat Stadium in Wake County.

Chapman and several friends were traveling in a Cadillac. After the group left the club, they retrieved an SKS semi-automatic rifle and a .45-caliber handgun they had hidden before entering the nightclub.

Court records state that as the Cadillac approached the Nissan on N.C. Highway 39 in Johnston County, Chapman told the driver not to pass it. Chapman then fired the SKS rifle from the front passenger window while another man, DaJuan Morgan, fired the handgun from a rear window. Chapman fired the rifle six to eight times, according to testimony at trial.

Nesbitt and Smith, both seated in the back of the Nissan, were struck by gunfire. The driver rushed them to Johnston Memorial Hospital in Smithfield. Smith survived her injuries. Nesbitt was pronounced dead.

Originally Sentenced To Death

A Johnston County jury convicted Chapman in October 2001 of first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and discharging a firearm into occupied property.

The jury recommended the death penalty, and Chapman was sentenced to death on Nov. 2, 2001. He also received consecutive prison sentences of 157 to 198 months for attempted first-degree murder and 25 to 39 months for discharging a firearm into occupied property.

Chapman was 17 years when Nesbitt was murdered.

His case was pending before the N.C. Supreme Court when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Roper v. Simmons in 2005 that executing offenders who were younger than 18 when they committed their crimes violated the U.S. Constitution.

The N.C. Supreme Court subsequently upheld Chapman’s convictions but vacated his death sentence and returned the case to Johnston County Superior Court for resentencing.

North Carolina law provides a separate sentencing framework for defendants who were under 18 when they committed first-degree murder. Under the law, a sentence of life imprisonment with parole requires an offender to serve at least 25 years before becoming eligible for parole.

Under the MAPP agreement approved for Chapman, his scheduled parole release date is April 2, 2029.

Two co-defendants were later convicted for their roles in the case. One of them, Jared Clemmons, was convicted in August 2002 of second-degree murder and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. He was paroled in 2008, according to online state prison records.