Suspect being held on $1M bond was released after typographical error

A 22-year-old murder suspect being held on a $1 million bond in Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County Corrections Center was mistakenly released from custody on Monday after a typographical error.

According to The Associated Press, Amarion Sanders was released after a man linked to a different case had his charges dismissed. Sanders is said to have been released after a court worker mistakenly entered his case number instead of the other defendant’s.

In a statement, the Cuyahoga County Common Pleas Court said Judge Timothy J. McGinty’s docket randomly had two criminal cases whose numbers follow each other in a regular counting order, News 5 Cleveland reported. The statement, however, explained that is “rare with 34 Judges on the bench.”

The case number for Sanders is CR-23-685908 while the case number of the defendant supposed to be released is CR-23-685909. “Had the cases been on different dockets, the system would have flagged the error when it was entered,” the court explained in the statement.

After Sanders was released and the mistake was realized, authorities launched a manhunt for the murder suspect. U.S. Marshals eventually re-arrested him on Wednesday morning. Sanders was said to be in a car when he was located.

“This incident is unfortunate and we’re going to do our best to make sure that this type of incident doesn’t occur again,” Interim Chief of Corrections Nestor Rivera said. 

Sanders is accused of fatally shooting a victim identified as Derek Driskill in September 2023. The 22-year-old suspect, who is facing an aggravated murder charge, has maintained his innocence, The Associated Press reported. 

In the wake of his accidental release, Driskill’s family on Tuesday told News 5 Cleveland that they feared for their safety. “It’s not fair. There are so many people that are locked up for crimes that maybe they didn’t even commit, but when you have someone on videotape doing something, how do they get out mistakenly?” Driskill’s wife, Andrea Johnson, said.

Prior to his release, Sanders’ trial had been scheduled to commence on August 19.