A former gang leader was granted parole in a unanimous decision by the Massachusetts Parole Board 30 years after he played a part in the killing of a 21-year-old man in Dorchester.

Phillip Jones was 20 when he “ordered” the fatal shooting of Jesse Shamele Baker, handing a loaded gun to the man who would eventually pull the trigger on Sept. 5, 1995. Jones was found guilty of being an accessory before the fact to Baker’s killing and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

A Supreme Judicial Court decision early last year made Jones eligible for parole when the state’s highest court struck down sentences of life without parole for emerging adults — those between 18 and 20. Jones appeared before the board for an initial hearing on April 10.

On the day of the shootin

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