Prisoner mistakenly released early charged with killing teen

Associated Press

SEATTLE

An inmate mistakenly released from a Washington state prison three months early has been charged with killing a teenager when the inmate should have been locked up, officials said Thursday.

It was the second death tied to the early release of as many as 3,200 prisoners since 2002 because of a software coding error that miscalculated sentences.

There are likely to be more crimes linked to inmates freed too soon, Department of Corrections Secretary Dan Pacholke said.

Jeremiah Smith, 26, was wrongly released May 14. Less than two weeks later, he gunned down Ceasar Medina, 17, at a tattoo parlor in Spokane, authorities said.

Smith, who had been convicted of robbery, burglary and assault, shouldn’t have been released until Aug. 10, authorities say.