DETROIT – Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy is seeking victims of prisoners who will soon be paroled so they can be properly notified.
See a list of names below.
The prisoners have served their minimum sentences to be eligible for parole, and the Michigan Department of Corrections and the parole board are granting it in order to get them out of the prison system amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
According to the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office, MDOC began sending letters to the office early last month about paroling prisoners because of the COVID-19 outbreak. These letters did not contain information about victims.
Worthy wants any victims of the parolees who are still alive to be aware these people are being released.
“The MDOC is going to release these prisoners, and we need time to find victims that are connected to the crimes,” Worthy said.
She will not approve a request from MDOC to waive a 28 day waiting period as she seeks victims and alerts them.
“This was something we’ve never done before but obviously we’re facing a pandemic that we’ve never faced before,” MDOC spokesman Chris Gautz said.
Michigan currently houses around 37,000 prisoners. Only between 4,000-5,000 qualify for parole, and the parole board is working overtime to move them out of the system.
In any given month, MDOC paroles just under 700 prisoners a month. During the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s over 700 and closer to 800.
Jails have also been moving to release inmates during the pandemic in an effort to lessen the spread of the illness.
READ: Hundreds of inmates released from Metro Detroit county jails
At the county jails in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties, officials have been reviewing the cases of inmates who would not be a danger to the public if released.