Convicted Murderer Kathan Guzman, Who Was Mistakenly Released From Jail, Back Behind Bars After 2 Weeks On Run

A man who was mistakenly released from a Georgia jail after strangling his girlfriend has been arrested in Florida, as confirmed to ABC News by the U.S. Marshals Service on Friday.

Kathan Guzman, 22, was convicted of murdering his 19-year-old girlfriend Dalia Grayson last year and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

However, while awaiting transfer to the Georgia Department of Corrections, Guzman was released from the Clayton County Jail by mistake on March 27, becoming the second inmate in the last year to be erroneously freed from the same jail.

Guzman’s mistaken release was not noticed for almost two weeks until Tuesday.

Guzman was taken into custody in Ocoee on April 11, arrested by the Florida Caribbean Regional Fugitive Task Force at his mother’s residence. He was booked into the Orlando County Jail with no bail on a fugitive from justice charge.

Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen said in a statement on Friday, “Investigators quickly gathered intelligence, followed up on leads, deployed surveillance teams, brainstormed ideas, and utilized a variety of techniques to narrow down Guzman’s location—which was determined to be outside the state of Georgia.”

He shared, “The cause of the release is under investigation, and the disciplinary actions are pending…once the investigation is complete, it may result in the termination of employees within the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office.”

According to prosecutors, Guzman strangled Grayson to death on the morning of August 7, 2022, following a lengthy argument. Guzman alleged that Grayson had attacked him with a knife – he merely locked her in a “sleeper hold” for ten seconds, and her death was unintentional. However, contrary to this claim, the medical examiner testified that Grayson had to have suffered prolonged pressure on her neck, and it would take significantly longer than 10 seconds for her to die.

The Clayton County District Attorney’s Office issued a press release at the time stating, “After strangling Delila to death, the defendant moved her body to the bathroom, closed the door, left the apartment, and did not contact law enforcement for ten-plus hours.”