Los Angeles murder suspect mistakenly freed from jail

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Los Angeles murder suspect mistakenly freed from jail

REUTERS
First posted: Monday, February 01, 2016 11:05 PM EST | Updated: Monday, February 01, 2016 11:09 PM EST

In this undated photo released by the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department shows Steven Lawrence Wright. Los Angeles County authorities say they've accidentally released Wright who was awaiting trial for a gang-related murder. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said Monday, Feb. 1, 2016, that Wright was mistakenly released from Inmate Reception Center (IRC) custody on Saturday, Jan. 30. (Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department via AP)

A man awaiting trial for a gang-related murder was mistakenly released from a Southern California jail and was being sought by authorities, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Office said on Monday.

Steven Lawrence Wright, 37, was freed from the facility around noon on Saturday and the mistake was not noticed until late on Sunday, the sheriff's office said in a statement.

"The Sheriff's Department takes this matter very seriously and is fully engaged with returning Inmate Wright to custody," the statement said.

An investigation into the erroneous release would be conducted, it said.

Wright was arrested in April 2011 and was being held pending trial for a gang-related murder in the city of Pasadena in January 2011, the statement said.

When he was mistakenly released on Saturday, Wright was being held at county's Inmate Reception Center, the primary intake and release facility for male inmates in the Los Angeles County jail system.