A Colorado inmate who was paroled early due to coronavirus concerns has been accused of murdering a Denver woman.

Cornelius Haney, 40, was released April 15th after Governor Jared Polls ordered the state’s prisons to parole low-level offenders and inmates nearing the ends of their sentences in an effort to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. Earlier this week, detectives investigating the murder of 21-year-old Heather Perry — who was shot to death May 9th in an alley — identified Haney as the prime suspect in the case, the Denver Police Department revealed on Friday.

Haney, who’d been serving a seven-year sentence for a 2016 robbery, was released early because he met “special needs parole criteria,” says Annie Skinner, a spokeswoman for the corrections department. She declined to specify what factors were taken into account to make that determination.

Source: https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/national-international/man-paroled-over-coronavirus-concerns-charged-in-slaying/2273007/