An inmate freed from the Hillsborough County Jail in Tampa to prevent the spread of the coronavirus is back behind bars after allegedly murdering a man the day after his release, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said late Tuesday.
Joseph Edwards Williams, 26, was sprung from jail along with 163 detainees said to be low-level offenders on March 19, according to records from the Sheriff’s Office.
Mr. Williams had been arrested on March 13 for possession of heroin and possession of drug paraphernalia.
Local authorities say he fatally shot a man on March 20 in the county’s Progress Village area. He was arrested late Monday and charged with second-degree murder with a firearm, a gun charge and resisting an officer.
He is being held in jail on a bond of $250,000.
“There is no question Joseph Williams took advantage of this health emergency to commit crimes while he was out of jail awaiting resolution of a low-level, non-violent offense,” Hillsborough County Sheriff Chad Chronister said in a statement. “As a result, I call on the State Attorney to prosecute this defendant to the fullest extent of the law.”
“Every murder, every violent crime, especially those involving a gun, is a sickening example of the worst in our community, especially at a time when the community is working to relentlessly fight against the spread of this deadly COVID-19,” Sheriff Chronister said.
Although public defenders and other officials throughout the country say they are releasing low-level, nonviolent offenders, a report earlier this week by The Washington Times revealed that several offenders with violent histories have been sprung from local jails.
