Murder suspect turned himself back in after a clerical error led to his accidental release

A man who is facing charges of first-degree murder turned himself back in after jail staff accidentally released him.

The suspect, Jaylan Noah Davis, was arrested and charged with murder last year in connection with a shooting that left Arthur Mikulski, 42, dead in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Davis, who is also facing two counts of shooting into an occupied dwelling and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, was processed and released on Thursday (13 April) from the Mecklenburg County Jail.

Mecklenburg County Jail

He was being held without bond and his accidental release was due to an incorrect court order indicating the charges against him had been dropped.

Despite being released, Davis turned himself in on Friday (14 April). Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden confirmed the ‘clerical error’ in a statement shared on Twitter.

The Sheriff said he is grateful no one was hurt after Davis’ accidental release, but said it was an ‘emotional rollercoaster for the families involved’.

“Our criminal justice system will never be flawless, but we will learn from this experience and improve our process accordingly,” McFadden shared in the statement.

Davis’ father Andrew spoke with a local news station about the moment he watched a Channel 9 broadcast about his son’s release – which is how he found out about the mishap.

WSOC-TV Channel 9

“Like I’m not believing what I’m seeing,” Andrew Davis told Channel 9.

Andrew explained that as soon as they heard that his son was wanted, they immediately surrendered.

He said he spoke to a sergeant at the jail, who explained to him how the mistake happened.

The father said: “And he explained to me that it was some kind of clerical error, and they released him. We brought him home.

"But when they put it out on the news, I’m like we’ve been at home. They got the number here. They got the address here. You know where we’re at, I mean nobody came.

"Nobody did anything but we happen to see it on the news, so we went to go turn ourselves in.”

After Davis returned to the detention centre on Saturday morning (15 April), the Sheriff’s department confirmed that he is once again being held without bond and is scheduled to be back in court on Monday (17 April).