
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 16, 1990                   TAG: 9003162324
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: BEDFORD/FRANKLIN 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA                                LENGTH: Short

POLICE FREE PRISONER BY MISTAKE

Police are searching for a Washington man charged with murder in Maryland who was mistakenly released from the Alexandria jail this week, authorities said Thursday.

John Robert Ashby, 18, was released Tuesday night when his file mistakenly was added to the file of another inmate scheduled for release, an unnamed jail official told The Washington Post. The Alexandria Journal reported that Ashby was confused with another prisoner with the last name of Ashley who was scheduled to be released.

Ashby, charged with first-degree murder in a fatal shooting outside the Iverson Mall in Prince George's County, Md., last October, was released from the Alexandria facility Tuesday night, officials said.

Deputies did not realize the mistake until Wednesday morning, about 15 hours after his release.

Sheriff James Dunning said he believed the incident was an accident, and not part of an escape plot.

- Associated Press

by CNB