A convicted murderer, Kathan Guzman, who was erroneously released from a Georgia jail, has been apprehended in Florida two weeks later. This incident caused significant distress for the family of his victim, Delila Grayson, with concerns about their safety following Guzman’s unexpected release.
Guzman, aged 22, was sentenced to life imprisonment for strangling his girlfriend, 19-year-old Delila Grayson, whose lifeless body was discovered in a bathtub in August 2022. The mistake occurred on March 27 when jail staff in Clayton County near Atlanta failed to properly review his documents, not recognising that he was convicted of murder and assault by strangulation.
Responding to the incident, Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen announced potential disciplinary actions and firings within the jail staff, as well as expressing dismay over the administrative error. After his release, Guzman reportedly claimed, “God is good,” insinuating that his freedom was divinely sanctioned.
Unaware of the situation until days later, Grayson’s mother, Christina, expressed her fears, stating she felt like “a sitting duck” while her family took measures to remain vigilant, even sleeping in shifts as local deputies conducted patrols in their area.
Guzman was eventually located and arrested without resistance at a home in Ocoee, near Orlando, with booking records indicating he was subsequently held in the Orange County Jail. Authorities from the US Marshals Service confirmed they tracked him down, aided by investigative work by the Southeast Regional Task Force based in Atlanta, who suspected he might be in Florida.
The realisation of Guzman’s release prompted alerts from the Georgia Office of Victim Services, who discovered his absence from the corrections system and subsequently informed the prosecutor’s office. The Clayton County District Attorney, Tasha Mosley, expressed confusion over the circumstances leading to Guzman’s release and voiced frustration regarding the oversight.
In her statement, Mosley affirmed that all necessary documents had been dispatched correctly and reiterated the department’s disappointment with the failure to prevent Guzman’s release. She stated, “We are just as disappointed and pissed off as everybody else,” capturing the collective outrage over the incident.