Michael Behenna's clemency request denied

Michael Behenna told his mother Wednesday his most recent request for clemency has been denied.

“I just told him to hang in there,” Vicki Behenna said. “It's not over until it's over.”

Behenna, an Edmond native, was convicted by a military court in 2009 of unpremeditated murder in a combat zone for killing an unarmed Iraqi detainee in Iraq. He is serving a 15-year prison sentence at Fort Leavenworth, Kan.

A clemency hearing Dec. 2 was the soldier's second request to the Army Clemency and Parole Board. In January, the board reduced his 20-year prison sentence by five years.