Murder suspect accidentally released from jail in Indiana arrested in South St. Paul

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A murder suspect who was mistakenly released two weeks ago from jail in Indianapolis was captured Wednesday by the U.S. Marshals Service in Minnesota, where he faces charges in a 2021 killing, police said.

Kevin Mason, 28, was apprehended in the afternoon in St. Paul, said Marion County Sheriff Kerry Forestal, who added in a statement that he’s grateful to the Marshals Service “for concluding this manhunt and safely bringing Mason back into custody.”

Mason was arrested in Indianapolis on Sept. 11, but a preliminary review found he was released two days later because of a faulty records review by clerks with the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, officials have said.

Last week the sheriff’s office announced that the Marshals Service would be leading the search and was offering a reward of up to $10,000 for information leading to Mason’s arrest. The sheriff’s office also said it had determined that he left Indianapolis on the evening of Sept. 13.

Mason’s arrest in Indianapolis was on three warrants — including murder — from three different jurisdictions, the sheriff’s office said. He is accused of killing Dontevius A. Catchings, 29, in June 2021 outside a Minneapolis church after the funeral of a mutual friend.

An attorney who might speak on Mason’s behalf could not be located. A message seeking that information was left for the U.S. Marshals’ office in St. Paul, and one could not be found in online court records in Indianapolis.