On September 23, a convicted Lousiana killer was released early from prison after paperwork was bungled.
Now, a massive manhunt is underway to find Benjueil Johnson, who is being treated as an escapee despite the fact that his “escape” was due to clerical error.
According to Fox News, Dixon Correctional Institute officials were processing Johnson’s paperwork for early release on good behavior for a different charge, and for some reason, the processing did not reveal to the officials that Johnson still had decades left to serve for his murder charges. He was then sent to East Feliciana Parish for a separate charge of battery against a correctional officer, and he then posted bail and slipped away.
On Monday, the Iberville Parish Sheriff’s office received tips from residents who saw the convicted killer in the area, and it was these reports that tipped them off to the mistake.
Police are treating Johnson as an escapee, but that news worries his mother, Francel Johnson, who is scared that her son will be shot if they find him.
“It’s not his fault, it’s not his fault. He got released,” she told WAFE. “You told him he was no longer your property, he bonded out, and now you’re hunting him like a dog, like he escaped from prison or something.”