A man accused of stabbing a 63-year-old man to death was released from jail months earlier over coronavirus concerns, according to court records.
Court records confirm that Justin Wilson, 26, filed an emergency petition on April 23 for a special release from jail while awaiting theft charges, citing an “immediate threat posed by [the] COVID-19 pandemic.” That request was granted by a judge who released him on a $5,000 unsecured bond a week later, according to ABC 7 WJLA.
Recommended Stories
Police say that on July 23, while out on bond, Wilson killed 63-year-old Edigio Ienzi in the basement of his Germantown, Maryland, home in a crime that was reportedly partially witnessed by Ienzi’s 16-year-old daughter.
“The girl awoke to shouting, walked downstairs and allegedly saw Wilson tussling with her father at knifepoint,” WJLA reporter Kevin Lewis wrote on Twitter. “The girl ran back to her bedroom, locked her door, hid in the closet, and called 911. ‘The caller is whispering, advising she saw a knife and blood.’ -dispatcher”
MORE: The girl awoke to shouting, walked downstairs and allegedly saw Wilson tussling with her father at knifepoint.
The girl ran back to her bedroom, locked her door, hid in the closet, and called 911.
“The caller is whispering, advising she saw a knife and blood.” -dispatcher pic.twitter.com/mSxPwBx7q2
— Kevin Lewis (@ABC7Kevin) August 8, 2020
Ienzi died from his injuries at a nearby hospital shortly afterward.
Police caught a break when a man matching the description of the suspect was seen on nearby surveillance footage pacing around on his cellphone shortly after the killing. Another video also showed that same man running away from the direction of Ienzi’s home later.
The next day, Ienzi’s son told investigators that he believes Wilson was his father’s killer after his suspicions were confirmed watching the tape.
Ienzi and Wilson reportedly met two years before.
Two days after Ienzi’s death, an arrest warrant was filed against Wilson, and he was caught by police three days later and extradited back to Montgomery County, Maryland, on a first-degree murder charge and denied bond.
Some law enforcement officials have expressed frustration over the case and suggested that the judge who released Wilson, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Richard Jordan, was wrong to do so.
“Officials responsible for curtailing the spread of COVID-19 understood him to be in a high-risk health category releasing him pending sentencing,” said Ramon Korionoff, a spokesman for the state’s attorney’s office. “Unfortunately, he ended up killing someone while he was out. Police have arrested him, he was extradited from Virginia, and he remains held on no-bond status in the County jail per our request this past Wednesday. We will move forward to prosecute him for the murder of which he is accused.”
Lewis added on Twitter: “Law enforcement sources, frustrated by the situation, say someone in power ought to provide answers.”
Lewis also revealed that he filed a Maryland Public Information Act request to determine a list of all of the defendants who were released due to coronavirus concerns and hasn’t been heard back six weeks later.
Tens of thousands of inmates have been released back onto the streets across the country due to coronavirus concerns, and nearly 18,000 could be released in California alone.
At least 250 released inmates in New York City have already reoffended, amounting to 450 total arrests.
This week, a man charged with rape who was released due to coronavirus concerns was arrested again for allegedly killing the woman who accused him of raping her.
