Accused murderer Kevin Mason was accidentally released from the Marion County Jail on Sept. 13 and was captured Sept. 27. His girlfriend, Desiree Oliver, was charged with assisting a criminal for helping him. (Mugshots: Marion County Sheriff's Office; Jail photo: Google Maps)
An accused murderer who spent two weeks on the run after he was accidentally released from an Indiana jail because of a clerical error has been captured, according to cops.
In a press release, the Marion County Sheriff's Office in Indianapolis said 28-year-old Kevin Mason was arrested in St. Paul, Minnesota, by the U.S. Marshals Service around 2 p.m.
"I would like to extend my sincere gratitude and congratulations to the USMS for concluding this manhunt and safely bringing Mason back into custody," said Marion County Sheriff Kerry J. Forestal. "Our federal partners have kept us informed throughout the entire process. We are truly thankful for their assistance and wide resources — most specifically, their task force partnerships with local law enforcement agencies that have allowed them to pursue Kevin Mason throughout the country."
Forestal said Mason is not facing any charges in Indiana.
No other details were immediately available.
A recently released affidavit details what happened in the initial hours after Mason was accidentally released.
Mason walked out of the Marion County Jail on Sept. 13 because of a clerical error. His girlfriend, 29-year-old Desiree Oliver, is now in jail on a charge of assisting a criminal for helping him. Her arrest affidavit, obtained by NBC affiliate WTHR, shows what happened after he got out.
He called her around 11:15 a.m. to say he was released and asked her to pick him him.
"They let you out?" a shocked Oliver asked Mason, according to the affidavit.
Traffic cameras show Oliver's car near the jail around 11:45 a.m. She then drove to The Fashion Mall at Keystone, about 20 miles away, where she dropped him off. He used her phone before leaving, the affidavit said. A search of her phone later revealed text messages between the two.
They used the Telegram messaging app to send messages back and forth, the affidavit said. Mason sent Oliver such messages as, "Is there a tracker on your car?", "Is anyone following you?" and "Is your phone in your name?", according to the affidavit.
Mason and Oliver also talked about some personal items he would need and when they would meet up again. She also told him she needed work done on her car.
Oliver went to Walmart to buy men's underwear and other items but her credit card was declined, the affidavit said.
Officials at the jail realized their mistake about six hours after Mason's release and deputies with the Marion County Sheriff's Office went to Oliver's home, where they spoke to her through a Ring camera. She allegedly told the deputies she thought Mason was still in jail, the affidavit said. She said she wasn't home and was returning about 10 p.m., according to the affidavit.
Marion County Sheriff Kerry J. Forestal previously said Oliver's actions are the "kind of the disgusting type of behavior you expect when you're assisting a criminal," adding that the sheriff's office started "tracking" her since they learned of Mason's accidental release but haven't seen her with Mason. They also had a few homes under surveillance, he said.
Mason was initially arrested on Sept. 11 by the U.S. Marshals Service on a murder charge in the 2021 shooting death of Dontevius Catchings in Minneapolis outside a memorial for another shooting victim. Mason was taken to the Marion County Jail where had three different warrants from three Minnesota law enforcement agencies. A "hold" basically means an inmate should remain in jail. A jail clerk saw the three holds and eliminated two of them on Sept. 12, thinking they were duplicates, Col. James Martin said previously.
Then authorities in Ramsey County, Minnesota, waived extradition on the third, which meant Mason could be released.
"This was an error," Martin said. "This should not have happened."
The two court clerks responsible were fired.
Mason's accidental release sparked a massive manhunt which included MCSO and the Marshals Service, among other agencies. The sheriff's office waited six days to alert the public about Mason's release, saying it did so to keep a "tactical advantage" so it could covertly look for him. Once officials did release the information, more than 100 law enforcement officers searched Indianapolis.
But the MCSO announced Friday that it determined that Mason left the city the day of his accidental release.
The Marshals Service was offering a $10,000 reward for any information leading to his capture.
