It took detectives extra than a decade to locate the man who killed a Prince George’s County, high college pupil. But after less than 9 years in jail, he’s a loose guy. Nia Owens became located useless in a wooded location in Hyattsville, Maryland, extra than twenty years in the past. Police stated she changed into sexually assaulted and strangled near Northwestern High School in 1996. Years later, Matthew Bethea was convicted and sentenced to serve 15 years in prison after DNA linked him to the crime. Recently, Bethea changed into reducing his sentence via diminution credits, which allow inmates to break day their sentences for showing right conduct in prison. He changed into launched from prison on March 5.
“To recognize that he is out and he is round this metropolitan vicinity, handiest makes me want to transport to some other place,” Owens’ mother, Angela Wood, stated Tuesday. Wood joined other ladies in Annapolis to push for regulation to have diminution credit removed for convicted murderers. “If there’s any desirable time credit score, then it wishes to be something that they earn inside the jail to affect them in prison – now not coming domestic to society,” Wood stated.
The credit device turned into set up as an incentive to prisoners. If they work, take classes, and feature excellent conduct, they can get an early launch. For example, gale Seaton’s teenage daughter Stacy was killed in Bowie. She stated the man convicted of hiring someone to kill her is about to get out in 12 months. “Somebody who is a chilly-blooded killer, you’re now not going to rehabilitate them,” Seaton said.
“We are so busy trying to busy looking to paintings on justice reinvestment and cutting all people breaks; we’ve were given to realize that when they are serious crimes, and we don’t have the death penalty anymore, that we actually need to make sure that justice is finished,” Maryland Del. Susan McComas stated. Another person’s DNA was observed on Owens at the time of her death. That DNA becomes located in a country-wide database. However, it has now not been identified.