Corrections Dept. Reveals Reason Behind Mistakenly Freed Convict

MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- Miami-Dade Corrections officials now know how a convicted felon was accidentally released from the Miami-Dade County Jail, only to be captured about 14 hours later.

According to court records, the mistake was due to Dexter Davis' jail card, a record kept for each inmate.

Davis, 36, was in jail after being convicted Monday of attempted murder and armed burglary for a case stemming back to 2009 when he stabbed his ex-girlfriend numerous times with a butcher knife.

Davis was convicted on four counts, however, the jail booking record stated the sentence had expired on the first three counts. He was to be sentenced on the fourth count on December 9th in front of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Daryl Trawick. But, the jail card also said Davis, who pled guilty to Count 4, was sentenced to 364 days in jail with credit for time served on this count only. Since he had already been in jail for more than one year, the jail released him around 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

Miami-Dade Corrections issued a statement Wednesday saying their internal affairs department has launched an investigation into "the circumstances surrounding the release of inmate Dexter Davis."

But for numerous hours, victims and witnesses were concerned he would hurt them. CBS4's Gary Nelson spoke with Davis' former girlfriend Robin Jones.

"What could I do? Nothing. There was nothing I could have done," Jones said.

When asked if she was worried, Jones replied: "What do you think, when this man tried to take my life, you don't think I would be worried?"

Had it not been for Opa-Locka detective Henry Pouyate, the mistake may have taken longer to discover.

Pouyate, the detective who worked on the Davis case, happened to be driving to court Tuesday morning when he spotted someone who looked very similar to Davis walking out of jail.

Pouyate immediately called the prosecutor in the case who discovered that Davis had been inadvertently released, which launched an all-out manhunt.

But Davis did not travel far. Police say he walked just a few steps to the University of Miami Hospital. A hospital employee saw his picture on television and called police.

Davis was arrested at the hospital, but the inmate's former landlord was angry that police did not alert the community that he was on the loose.

"I just feel the public should have known as soon as Dexter got out, especially me, a victim," said Aramis Brazeal, Davis' former landlord who witnessed the bloody carnage.