Gov. Newsom's sentence commutes includes Tulare murder from 1994

California Governor Gavin Newsom pardoned five people and commuted the sentences of 21 state prison inmates on Friday.

Among the 21, more than a dozen were serving murder-related sentences.

Richard Flowers, 64, was among those commuted.

Flowers has been in prison for the last 26 years after he robbed and murdered Mary Garcia at her Tulare home back in 1994.

Flowers was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after committing the crime.

But now, Newsom's commutation makes Flowers eligible for a parole hearing.

Newsom cited Flowers' reformed behavior and 25 years behind prison bars as factors in his being commuted.