Prisoner Released Due to Coronavirus Accused of Murdering 21-Year-Old Woman; A Third of Local County Jail Inmates Released Nationwide to Stem Coronavirus Spread
By NBC News 9. A parolee accused of murdering a 21-year-old woman in Denver on Saturday was out of prison, according to information shared with 9Wants to Know, due to ongoing efforts to limit the spread of COVID-19 in the state’s prison system.
On Saturday, Denver Police believe Cornelius Haney shot and killed Heather Perry, 21, in an alley between the 1400 block of North Verbena St. and North Valentia St. in east Denver.
BREAKING: Cornelius Haney, released in April from a Colorado prison due to COVID-19, arrested for murder of 21-year-old woman in Denver pic.twitter.com/4yNSJsiltI
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 15, 2020
The fact that Haney, a felon with an extensive Colorado criminal history dating back to 1998, was out in the first place has a lot to do with the state’s efforts to keep COVID-19 from spreading within the state’s prison system.
Serving the tail end of a seven-year sentence for robbery, Haney left prison April 15th, four months earlier than his mandatory release date. A spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Corrections (DOC) told 9Wants to Know on Friday that Haney “was released due to special needs parole criteria” under an Executive Order signed by Governor Jared Polis in March. (Read more from “Prisoner Released Due to Coronavirus Accused of Murdering 21-Year-Old Woman” HERE)
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A Third of Local County Jail Inmates Released Nationwide to Stem Coronavirus Spread
By Washington Examiner. County jails across America have released an average of 32% of their inmates amid the coronavirus pandemic, with some county facilities letting out more than half those in custody, according to a criminal justice think tank tracking releases.
“In the last two months, local governments across the U.S. have drastically reduced their jail populations to slow the spread of the coronavirus. The typical jail has reduced its population by more than 30%,” the Prison Policy Initiative wrote in a new report.
Clackamas County, Oregon, topped the list of largest-known population reductions in large jails. Clackamas released 63% of inmates, followed by 58% in Faulkner County, Arkansas, and 57% in Bergen County, New Jersey. The Public Policy Initiative studied daily population data from 607 jails collected by the New York University Public Safety Lab.
“The strategies jails are using to reduce their populations vary by location, but they add up to big changes,” the think tank report states. “In some counties, police are issuing citations in lieu of arrests, prosecutors are declining to charge people for ‘low-level offenses,’ courts are reducing the amounts of cash bail, and jail administrators are releasing people detained pretrial or those serving short sentences for ‘nonviolent offenses.'” (Read more from “A Third of Local County Jail Inmates Released Nationwide to Stem Coronavirus Spread” HERE)
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