Serena Williams is opening up about the heartache of learning the man convicted of murdering her oldest sister in 2003 is out on parole, admitting that she still hasn’t forgiven him.

As Daily Mail exclusively reported former Southside Crips gang member Robert Maxfield, 38, was released from Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, California on March 8 after serving 12 years for the murder of 31-year-old Yetunde Price.

He was sentenced to 15 years, but was released early for good behavior.

‘No matter what, my sister is not coming back for good behavior,’ an emotional Serena told Time magazine.

‘It’s unfair that she’ll never have an opportunity to hug me.’

Serena Williams opened up about the heartbreak of learning her sister Yetunde Price’s killer is out on parole. Serena is pictured on the right with Price at the ESPY Awards in July 2003, a few months before her sister was killed

Robert Maxfield, pictured at his arraignment, was convicted of murdering Price and sentenced to 15 years in prison

Price, the oldest sister of Serena and Venus Williams, was killed in a drive-by shooting in Compton, California in September 2003. Police said Price’s boyfriend, who she was in the car with, was the intended target.

Serena, 36, told the magazine that although the Bible talks about forgiveness she is not there yet.

Maxfield, pictured in a mugshot before his March 8 release, is now out on parole for good behavior

‘I would like to practice what I preach, and teach Olympia that as well. I want to forgive,’ she said, ‘I have to get there. I’ll be there.’

The tennis champ also revealed that she learned of Maxfield’s release on the internet – just a few minutes before her match in San Jose and one day after the DailyMail broke the news.

Serena said she was sitting in the players’ area when she took out her phone, opened Instagram and read about the convicted killer’s parole.

‘I couldn’t shake it out of my mind,’ she told Time, adding that it was ‘hard’.

‘All I think about is her kids,’ she said, ‘and what they meant to me. And how much I love them.’

Authorities said Price, a registered nurse, was shot in the back of the head with an AK-47 and died instantly. Her family was left devastated by the sudden, violent death.

Her killer is now a free man after completing his 15-year sentence early due to good behavior.

A mugshot of Maxfield – taken before his release on March 8 this year and obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com – shows what he currently looks like.

Price (pictured on the left and on the right with her son) was 31 when she was killed. Police said she shot with an AK-47 in a drive-by shooting

Price is the daughter of Oracene Price, Serena and Venus’ mother. The sisters are pictured above with their mom at the Sports Illustrated Sportsperson of the Year Ceremony in New York in 2015

Following Price’s death, the family opened the Yetunde Price Resource Center to help people affected by violence and trauma get the resources they need

Both Serena and Venus were extremely close to their older sister, who acted as a part-time personal assistant and close support as their careers took off.

The sisters took a long time to recover their form on the tennis court and rumors swirled that Serena nearly quit the game in her grief.

Price was the daughter of Oracene Price, Serena and Venus’ mother. She had three young children – Jeffrey, Justus and Jair, who were taken to live in Florida by their grandmother.

On the night she died, Price was the passenger in the SUV of her boyfriend, Rolland Wormley, when she was shot in the back of the head.

The tragedy happened just after midnight as they drove through Compton near a suspected Crips gang drug house.

Price was shot when Maxfield – a reputed Southside Crips gang member – fired about a dozen rounds from an AK-47 assault rifle into Price and Wormley’s white GMC Yukon Denali.

Price’s boyfriend – who cops said had been the intended target – escaped unscathed.

At the time Wormley – said to be a member of another gang called the Mac Mafia Crips – was on parole after convictions for drug-dealing and gun offenses.

Maxfield pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter in April 2006 after two previous trials ended in hung juries.

At his sentencing at Compton Superior Court, Williams said: ‘I wasn’t going to speak today because it’s too hard for me to talk.’

But she said she wanted to let Maxfield know ‘that this was unfair to our family, and our family has always been positive and we always try to help people.’

Vicky Waters, press secretary for California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitations (CDCR), told DailyMail.com via email that Maxfield had a ‘determinate sentence’, which means he was allowed to be released to parole supervision after completing his term.

Pictured is a general view of the Yetunde Price Resource Center on Compton Blvd in California

Serena and Venus, pictured above at the opening of the resource center, took Price’s death very hard and have spoken out about the tragedy on multiple occasions

‘Maxfield was sentenced to 15 years, and was received by CDCR in May 2006. An inmate is eligible to receive good conduct credits – in this case, at the rate of 15%- for good behavior,’ Water said.

‘Per the law, he was eligible for 15% credit off his sentence, and he also received 989 days of credit for time served while awaiting sentencing, time served post-sentencing before arrival to prison. He was paroled in March after serving his full-term of his sentence, as defined by law.’

When asked if families are informed when an offender such as Maxfield is released, Waters added: ‘Victims can register with CDCR’s Office of Victim and Survivor Rights and Services to receive resources, as well as notifications on an inmate’s parole actions or release.’

Since Price’s death Serena and Venus have become advocates for change.

In 2016, the sisters opened a community center in Compton called the Yetunde Price Resource Center to help people affected by violence and trauma get the resources they need.

At the opening, Price’s daughter Justus and son Jair received a plaque honoring their mom.

‘We definitely wanted to honor our sister’s memory because she was a great sister, she was our oldest sister and obviously she meant a lot to us,’ Serena said at the opening.

‘And it meant a lot to us, to myself and to Venus and my other sisters as well, Isha and Lyndrea, that we’ve been wanting to do something for years in memory of her, especially the way it happened, a violent crime.’

Last December the sisters lead an emotional panel discussion at the ‘A Family Affair’ event at a tennis center in Washington DC, addressing the impact senseless acts of violence have on families and communities.

‘Well, violence has affected our lives personally — we lost our sister, she was the oldest — to violence,’ Serena said, crying.

Serena told Time magazine in a new interview that she has not forgiven her sister’s killer. The tennis champ is pictured above during a match on August 14

‘But I think what people don’t realize is how violence really affects not only your family, but your friends, your neighbors…everyone…And it’s … I’m going to stop there.’

Venus then took over and described the pain Price’s death caused.

She said: ‘Violence not only affects the victim’s family but also the family of the perpetrator, it ruins their lives as well. If you’re a mother or a father it’s not your plan to have your child commit this, it ruins lives.

‘I think one of the hardest days of all of our lives was having to tell our sister’s children what happened to their mom, you can’t prepare for that.’

Serena has won 23 Grand Slam titles. She won six before Yetunde’s death and didn’t win another until 2005’s Australian Open.

Speaking after Serena won Wimbledon in 2015, family friend Dionne Henderson told DailyMail.com how Yetunde’s devastating death was a big factor behind Serena’s intense motivation to keep winning.

Dionne said: ‘I see Yetunde in her when she plays. I really believe that one of the things that drives her so much and keeps her going is that every time she plays she’s giving it her all because of Yetunde.

‘I think it has spurred her on to win more championships. The sport helped Serena heal, it gave her focus and an outlet and helped get rid of that pain, put it into perspective.

‘Yetunde is a constant heartfelt motivation in her soul, in her spirit. I think it’s the same for the whole family, everything they do now centers around ‘this would have made her (Yetunde) proud.’