‘No excuse’: Killer’s release latest issue in Clayton Sheriff’s Office

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reviewed training records for jailers in Clayton County and spoke with law enforcement training professionals and Clayton County advocates about the mistake.

The records show that just over half of Clayton’s jailers have received any training beyond the basic required two-week program, and the person in charge of that program says it isn’t enough.

The AJC has repeatedly tried to reach Allen by phone, email and in-person since Guzman’s release. A spokesman for the sheriff declined to make him available for an interview with the AJC, saying officials were still “trying to figure out what went wrong and what happened.”

Credit: CARL JOHNSON/CLAYTONSHERIFFSOFFICE

Credit: CARL JOHNSON/CLAYTONSHERIFFSOFFICE

Allen is by all accounts popular in Clayton County —even some of his harshest critics had nice things to say. And the department he inherited wasn’t perfect to begin with: He picked up as interim sheriff after the prior leader, Victor Hill, was convicted and ultimately imprisoned for a litany of abuses, including strapping prisoners to chairs.

Hill is Allen’s godfather, although the two are reportedly estranged and Hill has publicly criticized Allen’s work as sheriff. Allen is married to Tashe’ Allen, who serves as District 3 commissioner, meaning when his department makes requests for additional funding, his wife is among those who vote on it.

A series of factors led to Guzman’s mistaken release, according to public statements Allen has made.

Guzman was ultimately located by U.S. Marshals in his native Florida, and the Georgia Department of Corrections said he will be brought back to a Georgia prison to complete his sentence. No timeframe has been given for the extradition.

Allen initially blamed the mistaken release on what he called a “training failure” at his jail. An investigation led to the firings of three employees, the sheriff told Channel 2 Action News, saying it was “human error” that led to Guzman’s release.

He also warned if the jail’s aging computer system isn’t upgraded soon, there could be additional mistakes made in the future. But not everyone is buying the sheriff’s explanation for what went wrong.

”A lot of that was just plain old fluff,” said Clarence Cox, who has nearly four decades of law enforcement experience. “We had that same computer system when I was there and it worked just fine.”

Cox may have an axe to grind. He ran for Clayton sheriff three times, most recently against Allen in last year’s primary election.

Cox, who once served as a major in the department and ran the agency’s drug task force, said there is “no excuse” for letting a convicted murderer walk free. He said mistaken releases generally come down to court documents not being read accurately or jail staff “just not doing their jobs.”

Credit: Jenni Girtman

Credit: Jenni Girtman

He called the mix-up that led to a killer’s release “a series of errors.”

”Something as critical and crucial as the release of inmates should not be left to somebody with limited experience,” Cox said. “I just think reading a file folder or making some phone calls before you allow this person to be released would have made a whole lot more sense.”

Hugh Hurtwitz, a prison management consultant and former acting director of the Federal Bureau of Prisons, said it was concerning that a dangerous criminal was mistakenly released without anyone knowing for about two weeks.

”I don’t understand how they released somebody and nobody realized he was gone or that it was a mistake," Hurtwitz said. “I don’t understand how that can happen.”

He said in federal prisons, there’s usually a system that gives out all the information needed about inmates, including release dates and any updates. Whenever court documents are received, there are people specifically trained to enter it into the federal prison tracking system to ensure everyone is on the same page regarding each inmate’s release date.

”My question would be, is the officer supposed to be reading the court documents?" he said.

Clayton County government officials, including District Attorney Tasha Mosley, voiced their frustration over the incident.

Mosley told the AJC that her office, which prosecuted Guzman’s case, was “as disappointed and pissed off as everybody else” at his mistaken release.

Problems at the jail

According to data provided by the sheriff’s office to the Georgia Sheriff’s Association, the jail has a capacity of 1,500, but in November 2024, which appears to be last time Clayton County submitted a report, there were more than 1,890 inmates, with more than half awaiting trial. In the past, the sheriff’s office has said the overcrowding has led to some inmates being placed on the floor or being housed three to a cell.

Allen has regularly asked the Clayton County Board of Commissioners for millions of additional dollars to hire employees and improve conditions at the jail.

Cox said the actions of Hill and now Allen have been a stain on the agency. But he said he’s more worried about lawsuits filed against Clayton’s sheriffs becoming a burden on the taxpayers.

Since March 2023, Clayton County has paid more than $5.6 million in settlements from lawsuits being brought up for things that occurred during Hill’s time as sheriff, including a $5 million settlement with a Virginia man who alleged he was severely beaten while detained in the county jail.

Since December 2022, there have been multiple jailers and contractors accused of smuggling in contraband and other crimes; at least one other instance of an inmate being mistakenly released from jail; and one instance in which a man in handcuffs escaped deputies before being arrested hours later.

In January 2024, Zion River Shaka, a suspect in a homicide, was mistakenly released after being transferred from the Fulton County Jail to the Clayton jail for a court hearing in a separate matter. The Clayton sheriff’s office was given instructions to return Shaka to Fulton after the hearing, officials said, but that never happened. Shaka was re-arrested in June 2024.

While Allen was still serving as interim sheriff, Nigiel Lee, who was initially arrested on home invasion and aggravated assault charges, scaled the Clayton County jail wall and made an escape, even after officers who made the arrest asked for backup, knowing Lee was a flight risk. It took two hours and all the resources at the county’s disposal to capture Lee again.

Just before Allen took over, Kaiser Ulrick Suggs, a man accused of murder in Fulton, was transferred to the Clayton jail to face charges that were ultimately dismissed. Suggs was mistakenly released instead of being transferred back to Fulton, where his murder case is progressing through the court system. He turned himself in.

From May 2023 through November 2024, nine people, including jailers, nurses and jail contractors, were arrested for a variety of reasons, including contraband.

Just days before Allen was elected, a Clayton County grand jury handed down a 64-count racketeering indictment against detainees of the jail, alleging dozens of them, along with several others outside the facility, acted in coordination to run a mini-criminal enterprise that allegedly included exchanging money, drugs, weapons and bribes.

In September 2023, Sen. Jon Ossoff called for a civil rights U.S. Department of Justice investigation into the Clayton County faciity, citing “disturbing reports of alleged life-threatening conditions within the jail, including medical neglect allegedly contributing to inmates’ deaths.”

The DOJ would not confirm nor deny whether it had opened such an investigation.

Lack of training

Allen originally blamed Guzman’s mistaken release on a lack of training on the part of his jailers. The state requires all jail law enforcement workers undergo a two-week course, but sheriffs can arrange for additional instruction at their discretion, said Brent Loeffler, training director at the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association.

Basic jail training includes classes on admissions and release, security searches, and dealing with contraband, first aid and CPR, ethics, use of force, and fingerprinting detainees, among other things.

He said sheriffs across the state are struggling to find jailers because low pay and difficult working conditions historically lead to high turnover rates.

“It’s a hard place to work,” Loeffler said. “It’s not an easy job by any means.”

Sherita Ballard, an academy manager who runs the basic mandated course and basic jailer program at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center, said the mandatory two-week course, required to be certified as a Georgia jailer, is not enough training.

“Eighty hours is not enough. I’ve been doing this here for 13 years and we’re still at 80 hours. To me, they need more than 80 hours,” Ballard said. “If you look at the Department of Corrections and Department of Juvenile Justice, their programs are five weeks, six weeks and, here, basic jail is just two weeks.”

According to Georgia Peace Officer Standards & Training Council data, 101 jailers in Clayton County, including some who are sergeants, have completed the basic jailer program from GPSTC. Of the 101 jailers, about 57 have received additional training.

Cox, the former Clayton County major who ran against Allen for office, called Allen a nice person and commended the sheriff’s outreach efforts. But he said he’s running the agency “like a kid in a Toys ‘R’ Us.”

”There’s a lot of work to be done. If we were judging him on passion and community engagement, he’d probably get an A,” Cox said. “But if we are talking about the constitutional duties of a sheriff and fulfilling those, he’d have to get a D.”

Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@

Credit: Natrice Miller / Natrice.Miller@

Clayton County community advocate Carol Yancey said she was surprised when she heard of Guzman’s accidental release.

“We should have been told sooner. We should have known about it,” said Yancey, a local community activist who has met with Allen on several occasions. In one of those meetings, Yancey said the sheriff took full responsibility for the error and promised to implement new protocols at the jail.

Yancey has had some budgetary concerns about the sheriff’s spending, most notably Allen’s decision to drop $3 million last year on a fleet of take-home electric vehicles for employees.

Yancey said she believes Allen has done a better job than his predecessor and one-time mentor, Hill. Hill, who once accidentally shot a woman while practicing police tactics, was convicted on federal charges of violating detainees’ civil rights for strapping multiple inmates to a restraint chair at the jail.

Hill served just under a year of his 18-month sentence. He was released in March 2024.

Aside from Guzman’s release, Yancey said the sheriff’s office also seems to be getting a lot less negative publicity in recent years, which she called a good thing.

“With Victor (Hill) in office, we were always in the news for his shenanigans,” Yancey said.