A manhunt is under way for a felon who was accidentally released from the Tennessee Department of Corrections on April 22, said Dorinda Carter, communications officer for TDOC.
If you have any information about the whereabouts of Edgar Bailey Jr., call 1-800-TBI-FIND.
Edgar Bailey Jr., 36, had been serving a life sentence at the South Central Correctional Facility after being convicted of felony murder in connection with the June 2001 death of Anthony McAfee, according to Times Free Press archives.
Officials at TDOC realized they had inadvertently released Mr. Bailey on Thursday after they were contacted by Hamilton County District Attorney Boyd Patterson, Ms. Carter said.
“It was an error on our part,” she said. “We miscalculated his sentence and basically made a mistake in releasing him earlier than we should have been as we were calculating the days.”
Confusion occurred in the department because of an appeal in Mr. Bailey’s case.
Mr. Bailey had been convicted of both felony murder and first-degree pre-meditated murder, which Hamilton County Criminal Court Judge Rebecca Stern merged into one first-degree murder conviction. In 2006, the pre-meditated murder conviction was overturned by the Tennessee Court of Appeals.
However, the appeals court affirmed the felony murder conviction, meaning Mr. Bailey had to continue serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole.
Ms. Carter said TDOC is looking into the clerical error to find out what happened and ways to prevent it in the future.
“I guess it is possible there could be disciplinary action depending on what we determine happened,” she said.
TDOC contacted the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, as well as local law enforcement agencies, notifying them about the situation Thursday.
The TBI was notified late Thursday about Mr. Bailey, said TBI spokeswoman Kristin Helm.
“There is a task force with TBI agents, U.S. Marshals and local law enforcement who are actively searching for him,” she said.
Anyone with information about Mr. Bailey’s whereabouts is encouraged to call (800) TBI-FIND.
Officials in the U.S. Marshal Office in Nashville said they were unaware of the search, as did officials in the Metro Nashville Police Department.
Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Janice Atkinson said her department had not been advised of the incident as of this afternoon.
The Hamilton County District Attorney’s Office declined comment.
See tomorrow’s Chattanooga Times Free Press for full coverage.
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I wish you guys would put the pictures of the criminals instead of the ones who do the articles. It would be most helpful to know what the person looks like who is one the "loose" in case we were to see them. I keep thinking those pictures shown are the ones who did the crime, then have to think.....no....that's the article writer. They are lovely to look at, but not beneficial to us as viewers at all. Thanks