Convicted murderer mistakenly released from Georgia jail is back in custody, officials say

CLAYTON COUNTY, Ga. -- A man convicted of strangling a woman to death in a domestic dispute was mistakenly released from jail, but is back in custody on Friday, officials said.

The incident marked the second time an inmate has been erroneously freed from the same jail since last year, officials said.

Kathan Guzman, who was convicted last year of murdering 19-year-old Dalia Grayson and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, was taken into custody at his mother's home in Oconee, Florida on Friday.

He was released from the Clayton County Jail erroneously, according to Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley, whose office prosecuted Guzman's case.

Mosley said the Georgia Office of Victim Services contacted her office on Tuesday after they were unable to locate Guzman in the Georgia penal system.

"My office checked the Clayton County Jail system, where it appeared that Guzman had been released," Mosley said in a press release on Thursday.

The Clayton County Sheriff's Office confirmed Guzman's "erroneous release" with her office, Mosley said.

She did not say when Guzman had been released.

A spokesperson for the Clayton County Sheriff's Office told ABC News that he did not have any information to release at this time regarding the matter.

"While the management and transport of inmates is outside the scope of the district attorney's office, we have been advised that every available resource is searching for Guzman," Mosley said before Guzman's capture. "It is my sincere hope that Guzman is quickly re-apprehended and serves every day of his life sentence."

A Clayton County jury found Guzman guilty of felony murder and aggravated assault on Oct. 25, 2024. A trial judge sentenced him to life in prison the same day.

Prosecutors said Guzman strangled Grayson to death early in the morning on Aug. 7, 2022, following an hours-long argument. Guzman testified that Grayson attacked him with a knife and that he placed her in a "sleeper hold" for 10 seconds without intending to kill her, the district attorney's office said. However, the medical examiner testified that there would have needed to be continuous pressure on her neck for significantly longer than 10 seconds for her to die, according to the district attorney's office.

Mosley said that upon learning about Guzman's release, her office contacted the victim's mother.

"How does this happen? How? I'm not getting a clear answer," Grayson's mother, Christina Grayson, told Atlanta ABC affiliate WSB.

She said she was concerned Guzman could be headed to Florida, where she lives.

"I can't walk around without my concealed weapon," Christina Grayson told WSB. "I mean, I have to make sure I have that and my phone."

This marks the second time since last year that the Clayton County Jail has mistakenly released an inmate.

In January 2024, murder suspect Zion River Shaka was transferred from the Fulton County Jail and sent to the custody of the Clayton County Sheriff's Office for a scheduled hearing, with instructions to return to the Fulton County Jail afterward. However, he was mistakenly released after the hearing.

Jail records show he was booked back in the Fulton County Jail in June 2024.