Oscar Pistorius will be released from prison in January, a South African parole board ruled Friday, after the former Paralympic champion and Olympic athlete was convicted of killing girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in 2013.
Oscar Pistorius attends a sentencing hearing at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, on June ... [+]
Pistorius has been granted parole and will be released from prison on Jan. 5, South African authorities said Friday according to multiple reports.
The athlete shot and killed Steenkamp on Valentine’s Day at home in Pretoria, South Africa, in 2013, and has alleged he shot through the door of his bathroom because he believed an intruder was in the house, unaware he was shooting at Steenkamp.
Pistorius was initially convicted of culpable homicide in 2014 and sentenced to five years in prison, but South Africa’s Supreme Court then found him guilty of murder on appeal in 2015.
The Supreme Court initially sentenced the athlete to six years in prison, but the Supreme Court of Appeal increased the sentence in 2016 to 13 years and five months, after prosecutors argued Pistorius’ six-year sentence was “shockingly lenient.”
This story is breaking and will be updated.