A man recently released from prison in Colorado was arrested Friday for the accused murder of a 21-year-old woman by the name of Heather Perry.
The alleged murderer, Cornelius Haney, was released early as authorities tried to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 through the prison system, according to NBC affiliate 9News.
BREAKING: Cornelius Haney, released in April from a Colorado prison due to COVID-19, arrested for murder of 21-year-old woman in Denver pic.twitter.com/4yNSJsiltI
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) May 15, 2020
An executive order signed by Democratic Colorado Gov. Jared Polis in March was the impetus for Haney’s release from state prison, according to a spokesperson for the Colorado Department of Corrections’ comment to 9News Denver.
Before his release, Haney was in the middle of serving a seven-year sentence after pleading guilty to a felony robbery charge in 2016, however his extensive criminal history dates back to 1998. (RELATED: California Prison Inmates Caught Infecting Themselves With Coronavirus In Hopes Of Early Release)
Haney was released early on April 15. His original sentence would have ended in August.
This comes as many parolees who have been released due to coronavirus have been arrested for new crimes. Over 100 inmates who were released from Rikers Island in new York due to coronavirus concerns have been arrested again sicne March.