A long-delayed parole decision for a former Navy SEAL trainee imprisoned since the mid-1990s is moving forward after Virginia officials scheduled a required public hearing.
Dustin “Dusty” Turner, who has spent more than 30 years in prison for a 1995 killing he has long denied committing, has now been added to the Virginia Parole Board’s January 2026 public hearing schedule, a procedural step needed to certify an earlier parole vote in his favor.
Navy SEAL Left Behind @freedustyturner posted on X on January 5, 2026:
2 DAYS UNTIL THE PUBLIC HEARING
We are counting down the days until the public hearing of the Virginia Parole Board to certify the October votes 🗳️ granting Dusty Turner parole.
On the day of the hearing, the Zoom link for the public hearing will be made available. You can… pic.twitter.com/Gl1qZunJNa
— Navy SEAL Left Behind (@freedustyturner) January 5, 2026
The post continued to read, “On the day of the hearing, the Zoom link for the public hearing will be made available. You can access it through our Linktree (in the bio) or directly on the Virginia Parole Board website… Thank you for continuing to stand with Dusty!”
The public hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, January 7, 2026, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, according to advocates for Turner. The hearing is intended to certify parole votes that the board reportedly took in October 2025 but did not finalize in the intervening months.
The certification has been delayed due to the apparent need for certain evaluations.
“The stated reason was the need for a sexual predator assessment – despite the fact that Dusty was wrongfully convicted of a sexual offense, has no qualifying mental disorder, and has been assessed as posing no risk to society,” a spokesman for the campaign to release Turner told The Dallas Express in a previous interview.
State officials have not publicly detailed the internal deliberations surrounding the scheduling decisions.
On Instagram, the Free Dusty Turner account posted, “Those who wish to attend [virtually] are welcome! There is no requirement to speak – your presence alone will be enough.”
Turner, a former Navy SEAL trainee, was convicted in a separate 1996 trial of abducting and killing 21-year-old Jennifer Evans in Virginia Beach and was sentenced to 82 years in prison. A co-defendant later recanted his trial testimony in sworn statements, saying he acted alone in the killing.
A Virginia Circuit Court judge ruled in 2008 that the co-defendant acted independently and that Turner had no role in the murder, though higher courts later declined to overturn the conviction, citing concerns about recantation evidence, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
The prosecution’s original theory held Turner criminally liable under felony murder statutes even if he did not personally commit the killing, a position that remains central to his remaining conviction for abduction.
Advocates say Turner, now in his 50s, has exhausted most traditional appeals and that parole represents his most realistic path to release.
His family, including his 77-year-old mother, Linda Summitt, has continued to publicly call for his freedom, while online campaigns have amplified attention to the case in recent months.
The January hearing comes just days before Governor Glenn Youngkin’s term ends. While a full pardon would require executive action, the parole board’s certification would allow Turner to be released if all procedural requirements are met, according to the Free Dusty Turner Coalition.
