Man in prison for life in girlfriend’s death mistakenly released, GA officials say
A man who was found guilty of strangling his 19-year-old girlfriend to death was mistakenly released from a Georgia jail five months after being sentenced to life in prison, officials said.
Kathan Guzman was convicted Oct. 25 in the death of his girlfriend, Delila Grayson, who was found in an apartment bathtub in Riverdale in August 2022, Tasha Mosley, Clayton Judicial Court District Attorney said in an April 10 news release and WXIA reported.
“The DA promised me that he would never get out,” Christina Grayson, the slain woman’s mother, told WAGA. “They looked me in my face, and they promised me that he would never get out. I had nothing to worry about. And he’s out free.”
In an April 9 post on Facebook, Grayson said Guzman was accidentally released March 27.
Mosley said her office reached out to Grayson after being notified April 8 that Guzman could not be located in the penal system and confirming with the sheriff’s office that he was erroneously let out.
“While the management and transport of inmates is outside the scope of the District Attorney’s Office, we have been advised that every available resource is searching for Guzman,” Mosley said. “It is my sincere hope that Guzman is quickly re-apprehended and serves every day of his life sentence.”
McClatchy News reached out to the Clayton County sheriff’s office on April 10 but did not receive an immediate response. Sheriff Levon Allen told WSB-TV the accidental release was due to a “training failure and his workers not paying attention.”
Riverdale is about a 10-mile drive south from Atlanta.
This story was originally published April 10, 2025 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Man in prison for life in girlfriend’s death mistakenly released, GA officials say."
