A man convicted murder and rape in Shawnee County, and aggravated battery in Pawnee County, is eligible for a parole hearing in November.

The Prisoner Review Board will hold public comment sessions in October for Johnnie Charles Shears and other inmates eligible for parole hearings the following month. Shears, known by the aliases Hardtime, J C, Jay Love and Solo, is 42 years old. He is in special management at Lansing Correctional Facility-Central. He has been in prison since 1995.

Shears was charged with premeditated first-degree murder, an alternative count of felony murder, and attempted aggravated robbery, all arising from Shears’ killing of David Cook on December 7, 1994 in Shawnee County. After the preliminary hearing, the State served notice of its intent to seek a hard 40 sentence. Shears was also charged with rape and aggravated battery, arising from an incident on September 27, 1994, at a Motel 6, and aggravated robbery, because of a robbery of Little Caesar’s on December 5, 1994, also in Shawnee County. At the time of the offenses, Shears was 17 years of age and on probation for three prior juvenile adjudications. With a plea bargain, he entered a plea of no contest to the felony murder charge, making him eligible for parole after 25 years.

He was moved to different prisons over the years, including Larned Correctional Mental Health Facility. On July 29, 2014, he committed the crime of “aggravated battery - bodily harm - deadly weapon/manner.” On July 1, 2001, he attempted battery against a correctional officer at Lansing Correctional Facility in Leavenworth County.

The Prisoner Review Board will hold public comment sessions Oct. 7 at City Hall in Kansas City, Oct. 16 at Derby Police and Courts in Derby and Oct. 18 at the Municipal Court House in Topeka. Written comments may be mailed to Kansas Department of Corrections, Prisoner Review Board; 714 SW Jackson Street, Suite 300; Topeka, KS 66603.