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

DATE: FRIDAY, March 23, 1990                   TAG: 9003232898
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B2   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ALEXANDRIA                                 LENGTH: Short

EMPLOYEES AT JAIL ARE DISCIPLINED FOR RELEASING WRONG MAN

Sheriff James Dunning says he has taken "appropriate disciplinary actions" against employees who mistakenly released a murder suspect from the city lockup last week.

John Robert Ashby, 18, was released March 13, instead of Joseph Asbury, who had been arrested for shoplifting, Dunning said Thursday. Ashby was captured Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Ashby faces a drug charge in Alexandria and a first-degree murder charge in Maryland.

Dunning said Asbury was supposed to have been released after serving a 15-day sentence, Dunning said. He was released the next day.

Ashby is charged with murdering Reginald Turman, 18, of Clinton, on Oct. 12. Turman was found with a bullet wound in his head in the parking lot of a Hillcrest Heights, Md., mall. Prince George's County police say the killing was related to drug dealing.

Dunning refused to say if any employees were fired or how many employees had been disciplined.

"The sanctions were strong enough to ensure that people will follow appropriate procedures in the future," he said.

by CNB