Authorities revealed Thursday that two deputies have been fired after an inmate was released by mistake from a New Orleans jail.
The Orleans Parish Sheriff’s Office said 30-year-old Khalil Bryan was released from the Orleans Justice Center on July 25 over a human error and not a system failure, ABC News reported.
Bryan, who remains at large, was allowed to leave when he was mixed up with a fellow inmate with the same last name during the facility’s overnight release process. His identity was not properly verified, the sheriff’s office said.
The mistake was “compounded by inadequate protocol adherence,” the office added. Two deputies, whose names have not been made public, were let go and accused of “severe breach of duty and process.”
Another five staffers have been suspended “due to procedural failures and negligence” during the failed identity verification. The sheriff’s office said it’s enacting additional training on the release process and conducting a review of all releases by a supervisor.
In a Thursday statement, Orleans Parish Sheriff Susan Hutson said, “This incident reflects a failure in execution, and we are taking full accountability.”
“The people of New Orleans deserve a jail that operates with precision and professionalism,” she added.
In May, 10 inmates escaped from the same jail, with one violent offender still at large. The inmates repeatedly pulled on a sliding cell door until it derailed. Next, they were able to pull bathroom fixtures off their mountings, and are thought to have squeezed through a hole in the wall.
The men made it to the jail’s supply loading bay and then used blankets to scale a security wall with razor wire and ran across Interstate 10, fleeing into the wider New Orleans area.
Bryan was being held on several charges, including possession of stolen property, drug paraphernalia, and resisting an officer, according to the New Orleans Police Department. He has an active warrant for aggravated assault with a firearm, domestic abuse, child endangerment, and home invasion, the department added.
New Orleans Police Chief Anne Kirkpatrick noted that he has a “violent criminal history.” It includes aggravated burglary, aggravated assault with a weapon, and aggravated criminal damage to property.
The mistake was discovered about 10 hours after his release, the sheriff’s office said. After finding the error at 11.10 a.m. on July 25, the public was informed at 3.45 p.m. on the same day.
On Thursday, the sheriff’s office said it waited to alert the public for several hours as they wanted to avoid tipping off Bryan as they searched for him.
Orleans Parish District Attorney Jason Williams said previously that his office has not ruled out pursuing charges against the deputies.
“This is a deeply troubling incident that underscores the ongoing systemic issues surrounding the exercise of custody and control over detained individuals,” he said last week. “The failure to properly confirm the identity of an inmate prior to release is an unacceptable lapse that presents a real and immediate risk to public safety.”
Authorities didn’t believe Bryan was an “immediate threat” as he was being held “primarily for non-violent charges,” the sheriff’s office noted.
The inmate who was supposed to be released instead of Bryan was let go just before 11 p.m. on July 25.
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