--- title: Los Angeles Officials Mistakenly Release Alleged Murderer description: He was awaiting trial for a gang-related murder canonical: https://time.com/4203978/los-angeles-murder-suspect-released/ author: NBC News article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-02-02T13:08:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:40:38.215Z article:section: U.S. og:title: Los Angeles Officials Mistakenly Release Alleged Murderer og:description: He was awaiting trial for a gang-related murder og:url: https://time.com/4203978/los-angeles-murder-suspect-released/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Los Angeles Officials Mistakenly Release Alleged Murderer twitter:description: He was awaiting trial for a gang-related murder twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Los Angeles Officials Mistakenly Release Alleged Murderer by [Shamar Walters/NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Shamar Walters/NBC News Feb 2, 2016 1:08 PM CUT by [Shamar Walters/NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Shamar Walters/NBC News Feb 2, 2016 1:08 PM CUT Authorities in Los Angeles were hunting a murder suspect Tuesday morning after they mistakenly released him from custody while he was awaiting trial. Steven Lawrence Wright, 37, was “erroneously released” from Los Angeles’ Inmate Reception Center before his trial for the gang-related murder in January 2011, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement Monday. “He should be assumed to be armed and dangerous because he is a known gang member,” LASD spokesman Cmdr. Keith Swensson [told NBC Southern California](http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/dangerous-armed-inmate-release-mistake-pasadena-gang-murder-367313621.html "undefined"). Wright was “erroneously released” around 12:55 p.m. Saturday (3:55 p.m. ET) and the sheriff’s department said it “became aware of the release” at 9:30… [Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News ](http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/los-angeles-officials-mistakenly-release-alleged-murderer-custody-n509511 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4203978/los-angeles-murder-suspect-released/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4203978/los-angeles-murder-suspect-released/"},"headline":"Los Angeles Officials Mistakenly Release Alleged Murderer","datePublished":"2016-02-02T13:08:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:40:38.215Z","description":"He was awaiting trial for a gang-related murder","url":"https://time.com/4203978/los-angeles-murder-suspect-released/","keywords":["Crime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shamar Walters/NBC News"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4203978/los-angeles-murder-suspect-released/","name":"Los Angeles Officials Mistakenly Release Alleged Murderer"}}]}] ```