BOSTON — A Massachusetts man serving a life sentence for a horrific 1994 Medford murder is set to be released after the state’s Parole Board voted 4–2 to grant him parole, records show.

The man, Jeffrey Hardy, was convicted in 1995 of first-degree murder for killing 19-year-old Thomas Moran, according to the Parole Board’s written decision dated Jan. 6, 2026.

The decision describes a night that escalated after a group of friends played basketball, drank beer, and smoked marijuana treated with PCP. The ruling says Moran mocked the drug as “fake” and insulted Hardy, and Hardy later returned with a gun.

According to the Parole Board’s account, Hardy pointed the gun at Moran’s head and fired. The ruling says Moran exclaimed that Hardy shot him “in the mouth.” Moran’s body was later found in a park with a gunshot wound to the face and 79 stab wounds.

The Parole Board decision notes Hardy’s early disciplinary issues in prison, but says he has gone 15 years without an infraction, has remained sober for 29 years, and completed rehabilitative programming. The board also cited psychological and risk assessments it said placed him at a low risk to reoffend.

The ruling says the board heard testimony supporting Hardy’s release — and testimony opposing it, including from Moran’s siblings and others urging the board to keep Hardy incarcerated.

The case has also drawn political reaction.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Shortsleeve weighed in on social media, calling the decision “a pattern” and taking aim at Gov. Maura Healey over the lack of a public letter opposing Hardy’s release.

“Why didn’t Maura Healey write a letter opposing the Parole Board’s release of Jeffrey Hardy, who was serving life for the murder of a teen shot and stabbed 79 times?” Shortsleeve wrote. “This isn’t justice, it’s a pattern: violent offenders released while victims’ families are ignored unless they are ‘important’ enough or have a personal relationship with the governor.” He added: “We need true and equal justice under the law, and we aren’t getting it from Maura Healey and her Parole Board.”

Hardy became eligible to seek parole after a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling in January 2024 that struck down life-without-parole sentences for people who were 18 to 20 at the time of their crimes.