JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) – A Missouri Supreme Court ruling last month opens the door to possible parole for a Jasper County man and 80 other inmates who were convicted as juveniles of first-degree murder.

The court on March 15 ordered that all juvenile offenders sentenced to life without parole be granted a hearing after serving 25 years.

The was in response to a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said allowing only one sentencing option for juveniles convicted of first-degree murder was unconstitutional. Earlier this year, the high court said its earlier ruling was retroactive.

The Joplin Globe (http://bit.ly/1VfSArg ) says that means Joseph Dayringer, who was 16 in 1987 when he was sentenced to life without parole for fatally stabbing his Joplin neighbor, could get his first chance at parole — possibly this year.