Parole board decides if Central KY man serving time for girlfriend’s murder will be released
A Scott County man sentenced for the murder of his 18-year-old girlfriend had his parole request deferred Tuesday morning and will have to wait a decade for the Kentucky Parole Board to again consider his eligibility.
Roger McBeath, 42, has served 19 years of his sentence. He will be required to serve out 10 additional years before his case will again go before the board again for deliberation.
The nine-member board deliberated for almost 30 minutes Tuesday before taking a public vote. Eight members voted to defer and one member, Cyndi Heddleston, abstained from voting. Heddleston was appointed to the board in January 2023.
At his initial parole hearing on December 27, McBeath told the board he did not deserve parole, and didn’t wish for the hearing to continue. He still has 23 years left on his sentence. This was the first time McBeath was eligible for parole.
Members took his denial of parole into account and chair Ladeidra Jones said the deferral was due to the seriousness of his crimes.
“A life was taken in a crime that involved a firearm or deadly weapon,” she said.
McBeath was charged in April 2004 with the murder of his ex-girlfriend, Ashley Lyons, who at the time of her death was five months pregnant with their child. He was sentenced to 42 years for complicity to commit murder and complicity to tampering with physical evidence in November 2009.
Originally convicted of murder in October 2004, the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned McBeath’s conviction because a jail informant overstepped his bounds by questioning McBeath in jail about the shooting, and because the defense was not allowed to question the informant.
Lyons was shot to death inside her car at a Scott County Park on Jan. 7, 2004. McBeath’s then-girlfriend, Dena Williams, was also charged and pleaded guilty in November 2005 to complicity to murder and complicity to tampering with physical evidence for her involvement, according to court documents. Williams was sentenced to 20 years in prison, and granted parole in 2021.
The Kentucky Parole Board conducts parole eligibility hearings for persons confined in any adult state penal or correctional facility or sentenced felons incarcerated in county jails who are eligible for parole, according to their website. The board also conducts parole eligibility hearings for youthful offenders.
This story was originally published January 2, 2024 at 10:40 AM.
CORRECTION: Roger McBeath has served 19 years of his prison sentence. He has 23 years remaining on his sentence. This was incorrect in a previous version of this article.
