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A Troy man convicted of murder in 1999 was denied parole on Wednesday 22 years after the crime.

Diakist Johnson was convicted of driving a vehicle involved in the drive-by shooting of 19-year-old Larry Laron Tucker on Montgomery Street on July 30, 1997.

According to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles, Tucker’s mother and sister were both present during the hearing to plead against granting parole.

“He was taken away from us far too young,” Tucker’s sister reportedly told the board. Tucker’s mother also told the board that she sleeps with Tuckers photo every night.

Assistant District Attorneys Jon Folmar and Aleshia Williams were also present to contest the possibility of parole.

Folmar said this was not a case of simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the passenger of the vehicle acting alone.

“(Johnson) was an active participant in the murder,” Folmar said. “He actually spotted the victim and turned the car around so that the shooter could shoot the victim. We are protesting the parole at the hearing on behalf of the state and the victims.”

The shooter, Tony Deangelo Tuck, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to a charge of capital murder.

Johnson also pleaded guilty to a charge of murder in exchange for a sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole.

According to testimony, Tucker was standing in the driveway of 135 Montgomery Street talking to friends, who were in a car, when gunfire erupted less than half an hour after Tuck threatened to kill him.