Man Serving Life Sentence Mistakenly Released From Maryland Jail

February 25, 2010

Police are searching for a New York man who was accidentally freed from Maryland prison where he was serving a life sentence for attempted murder, officials said in a statement released Thursday.

Prison officials said Raymond Taylor, 26, was "erroneously released" from the Maryland Correctional Adjustment Center in Baltimore at 2 p.m.

He had a cellmate who was due for release that day - which may explain how the mistake occurred.

Taylor was being housed in Baltimore temporarily for a court appearance unrelated to his earlier convictions.

Taylor was serving a triple life sentence after trying to kill his ex-girlfriend and her two daughters at their home in Northeast Baltimore in 2004, The Baltimore Sun reported.

He pleaded guilty to shooting Tammie Johnson and her teenage daughters Cierra Johnson and Shatera Brooks multiple times in the head and body with a handgun. The victims survived but had multiple surgeries.

The Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services' Internal Investigative Unit and Division of Correction said it was working with Maryland State Police and Baltimore City Police and the Warrant Apprehension Task Force in search of Taylor.

The Internal Investigative Unit of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services is assisting law enforcement with the case and is conducting an investigation into the circumstances of the erroneous release.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,587450,00.html