The Fulton County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit is combing Atlanta looking for a murder suspect who was mistakenly released from the county jail last month.
A spokeswoman for the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office said Quinton Jones was released Oct. 20 after the jail received court papers indicating that Jones’ case status was nolle prosequi (unwilling to prosecute) and dead docketed.
Jones was originally booked into the jail Sept. 29, 2011 in connection with the June 2011 shooting death of La Maurice Westbrook. He was indicted on charges of murder, felony murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, among other allegations.
But according to Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard, the case was re-indicted on July 13, 2012 to include additional charges.
In a statement released to Channel 2 Action News, Howard said that the “new case was properly filed with the clerk’s office and contained a ‘no bond’ provision.”
Jones was arraigned Oct. 19 and a trial was set for this past Monday.
“Fulton County jail officials released Jones on the basis of the dead docketed, or original indictment, instead of holding him on the newest indictment in the system,” said Howard, adding that his office discovered that Jones had been released on Oct. 30 during a status hearing.
Tracy Flanagan said Fulton County Jail staff never received documents indicating that Jones’ case was re-indicted.
“He was released and later we were told that he was not to be released, because he had been re-indicted,” Flanagan said. “We followed what the court required, based on the paperwork.”
Jones was still not in custody as of Tuesday afternoon. Authorities are asking anyone with information on Jones’ whereabouts to call 911.
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