Five men serving life sentences got parole from Spanberger's board in one month

A life sentence in Virginia used to mean something. In August, the parole board appointed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger granted parole to five men serving at least one life term, according to the board's August 2026 decisions report.

Victor Fields, 68, Norfolk. Life plus two years for first-degree murder, from a February 1993 judgment. A Daily Press column from April 1993 said Fields, then 34, shot and killed 27-year-old Mark Borkowski on a Norfolk basketball court in July 1992 over a foul call. According to the minutes of the board's Aug. 27 meeting, two members of Borkowski's family opposed parole. The board voted 5-0 to grant it, citing among other things a medical condition and the prosecutor's support.

The jump is stark. A Washington Examiner analysis published Oct. 7 found that Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin's parole board approved 1.23% of parole requests in all of 2025, granting 32, while Spanberger's board, installed in mid-March, posted a 13.89% release rate in roughly half of 2026, with 38 grants, which the Examiner described as more than 10 times Youngkin's rate. A separate WJLA 7News analysis of every decision since Spanberger's board first met in May counted 48 grants in 205 discretionary and geriatric parole cases, about 23.4%, or "almost one in four," compared with fewer than two in 100 under Youngkin's board. Bolts magazine, analyzing monthly decisions, put Youngkin's board at about 2% from January 2022 through September 2023 and 1.6% for 2023. The analyses cover different periods and case counts, which is why the 2026 figures differ; the August report alone shows 14 grants in 44 parole decisions, about 32%.

Reginald Shell, 60, Hampton and Newport News. Sixty years for first-degree murder in Hampton and life for a second first-degree homicide in Newport News, both from 1989. A 1990 Court of Appeals opinion says he confessed to beating and stabbing his father, Samuel Rylander, and left a clothes hanger wrapped around his neck. The board's reasons for his release include "No previous felony convictions." The vote was 5-0.

David Brown Jr., 63, Norfolk. Life for rape, plus 10 years each for burglary and sodomy, from 1982. His record also lists an assault conviction in 1983 and an inciting-a-riot conviction in 1984, both after his sentencing. The board said the victim has died. The vote was 5-0.

Selwyn Shawn Herring, 62, Norfolk. Life for penetration with an inanimate object, plus three burglary counts carrying 20 years each, robbery and attempted burglary, from 2004. The board said the victims have died and listed "No victim opposition" among its reasons. The vote was 5-0.

Reginald James Holland, 63, Arlington County. Rape, forcible sodomy, robbery, two abductions and possession of a sawed-off shotgun, from 1990, with five entries recorded as life sentences. Three victims gave statements. Chair Shannon Dion voted no, citing "the lack of demonstrated remorse," and Vice Chair Kecia Brothers Hayes voted no, saying he needed sex-offender programming. Board Members Kevin White, Valerie Boykin and Tyrone Nelson outvoted them.

These five have served from about 22 to about 45 years. The board's defenders will point to that time, to infraction-free records and to programming completed in prison, and those reasons are in the record. In Fields' case, the prosecutor supported release.

But judges and juries imposed life terms for a reason, and victims and families came forward to say so. Under Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, the board granted parole at a rate of about 1.6% in 2023, according to Bolts magazine. In August, Spanberger's appointees granted 14 of 44 cases, about 32%, according to the board's own report.

Spanberger appointed all five members in March, and the Democratic-led General Assembly confirmed them. Members serve at the governor's pleasure. If she disagrees with releasing men serving life, she has the power to say so, and to act.

Consider what the five were convicted of: two first-degree murders, one of them a man's own father; a killing over a basketball foul; a rape; a sexual assault committed during a string of burglaries; and a rape, sodomy, robbery and double abduction involving a sawed-off shotgun. These are not technical violations or low-level crimes.

Two of the five had problems even inside prison, according to the board's record. Brown's file lists the 1983 assault and 1984 riot-inciting convictions, and Fields' lists a 1997 conviction for a prisoner possessing a weapon capable of causing death or injury.

The board's report does not give release dates for any of the five. Residents of Norfolk, Arlington, Hampton and Newport News may want to ask their Commonwealth's Attorneys and the Department of Corrections when these men will be released, and under what supervision.

Arlington County is a county in Northern Virginia. Its county seat is Arlington.

Hampton is an independent city in Hampton Roads.

Newport News is an independent city in Hampton Roads.

Norfolk is an independent city in Hampton Roads.