A manhunt is underway in California after a murder suspect was accidentally released from jail last week.
The Contra Costa sheriff’s office said that it was investigating the release of 20-year-old Isaiah Jamon Andrews of Kent, Washington. Andrews was released on 22 October from the Martinez detention facility in northern California.
At the time of his release, Andrews had been held on local charges, a juvenile warrant out of Sacramento as well as an out-of-state arrest warrant for homicide.
After staff realized that Andrews had been released, officers launched a search “of the immediate area and confirmed that Andrews was no longer in the area”, the sheriff’s office said.
The search by the US Marshals Service remains ongoing and local law enforcement agencies have also been notified.
Earlier this month, Seattle police announced that California police arrested Andrews and identified him as a wanted Seattle homicide suspect. According to Seattle police, officers connected Andrews to a 15 October shooting in Northgate, a neighborhood in Seattle where he is suspected of killing a 20-year-old man in the parking lot of a hotel.
Andrews was being held in the Martinez detention facility awaiting extradition to King county, Washington.
The Guardian has reached out to the Contra Costa sheriff’s office and the Seattle police department for comment.
