A man accused of cold-bloodedly shooting to death a husband and father last year was accidentally released from custody after he was mistakenly told his case had been dismissed due to a “clerical error” in an Ohio court.
Last fall, she and her husband, 39-year-old Derek Driskill, Father of three childrenDriskill and the driver of the other vehicle were driving a new Mercedes-Benz in a parking lot on Cleveland’s east side when they were rear-ended by another vehicle. Reportedly Police were handling the situation peacefully when Amarion Sanders, who was believed to have been sitting in the passenger seat of the other vehicle, allegedly jumped out of the vehicle, shot Driskill in the head and fled the scene.
“You’d think it wouldn’t be the only person this has happened to.”
Driskill died two days after his injuries, his wife, Andrea Johnson, claimed. “Obviously, I was heartbroken. I didn’t want to believe it,” she said. “… I thought he was going to be OK, and then he passed away.”
Sanders later turned himself in. He was charged with aggravated murder, two counts of murder, and two counts of felonious assault and was given a $1 million bail, which he failed to post, so he remained in custody in the Cuyahoga County Jail until the case was processed.
Until this week.
On Monday, the cases of Sanders, now 22, and Antonio Seymour, a 35-year-old defendant charged with assault and theft, were both assigned to the same Cuyahoga County judge. Their case numbers were also remarkably similar, differing by just one digit: Sanders’ case was 685908 and Seymour’s was 685909.
according to ReportsSomeone in Cuyahoga County District Court got the case number wrong on the docket, so when prosecutors moved to dismiss the case against Seymour because Seymour’s witnesses failed to appear, it was Sanders who was actually released from custody.
Law enforcement was then directed to locate and re-arrest Sanders and take him back to jail. A team of U.S. marshals made contact with Sanders’ family on Tuesday night and attempted to peacefully negotiate a surrender for him, but Sanders reportedly did not cooperate.
Deputies arrested him about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday and remanded him to custody, where he is scheduled for a hearing in connection with Driskill’s murder. August 19.
Meanwhile, Driskill’s family is still reeling from the rollercoaster of emotions of the past few days. “We don’t think this is fair. I mean, this is not justice and it doesn’t give our family any peace of mind. He’s out on the street and he could do the same thing to someone else,” said Driskill’s widow, Johnson.
“Honestly, I don’t understand how something like that could happen. I understand humans make mistakes, but I can’t be the only person this has happened to.”
The Cuyahoga County Attorney’s Office said in a statement that the case against Sanders was “erroneously dismissed” due to a “court administrative error.” “No motion to dismiss was ever filed by the office,” the statement reiterated.
The Cuyahoga County District Court also released a statement, expressing “regret” for “this error.” “The court will review its procedures and work with the Sheriff’s Department to ensure a similar incident does not occur in the future,” the court statement added. “We thank the police for their assistance in ensuring Mr. Sanders’ safe return.”
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