A shocking clerical error in Memphis has sparked outrage and raised serious concerns about Shelby County’s jail procedures. Anthony Green, 29, was convicted of first-degree murder on September 24, 2025, but instead of being taken into long-term custody to await sentencing, he was accidentally released from jail just 38 minutes after the guilty verdict.
Green’s murder conviction stems from a June 2020 shooting in Whitehaven. According to police, Green was driving a white Mercedes SUV when he opened fire on 27-year-old Octavious Atkins at the busy intersection of Shelby Drive and Neely Road. Atkins was killed instantly, and a 49-year-old man in another vehicle was also injured during the gunfire.
Investigators later found the white Mercedes burned, which they say was part of Green’s effort to cover his tracks. After months on the run, he was eventually arrested in Mississippi by a highway patrol officer and brought back to Tennessee to face charges.
Following his conviction for first-degree murder a charge that typically carries a mandatory life sentence without parole in Tennessee Green should have been transferred into permanent custody. Instead, a paperwork mix-up allowed him to walk free.
His attorney, Brandon Hall, explained the bizarre turn of events. Green had previously been jailed on an unrelated theft charge, for which he posted bond. When the murder verdict came down, the jail’s system still reflected only the theft charge and showed that his bond had been paid. Because the updated conviction paperwork and bond revocation had not yet been processed, Green was released.
“Usually, my complaint is they hold my clients too long,” Hall told FOX13. “Sometimes they sit in intake for two or three days before being processed out. In Green’s case, they moved him out in 30 or 40 minutes. It was unusually fast."
On September 25, just one day later, a new warrant was issued for Green. He now faces not only the original first-degree murder charge, but also criminal attempted first-degree murder and employment of a firearm with intent to commit a felony. He is currently awaiting his sentencing hearing on November 11, 2025.
The Shelby County Sheriff’s Office and court officials have not yet fully explained how such a serious oversight occurred. The incident is expected to trigger an internal investigation into jail intake and release procedures.
This is not the first time such an error has occurred. In fact, the Memphis case comes just weeks after a similar incident in Texas.
On August 17, 2025, 36-year-old Troy Dugas was “mistakenly released” from the Harris County Jail at around 4:30 a.m., according to the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Dugas had been sentenced to a 5-year prison term for assaulting a family member and a 2-year sentence for evading arrest.
He had been held in custody since August 14 on separate charges that were later dismissed. But because jail staff failed to properly document his state prison sentences, they mistakenly believed he was eligible for release. The Sheriff’s Office later asked the public to help locate him.
Cases like these highlight glaring vulnerabilities in the criminal justice system. In both Tennessee and Texas, simple clerical oversights allowed dangerous offenders to walk free raising questions about staffing, training, and oversight at large detention facilities.
For victims’ families, the errors add fresh pain. In Memphis, the family of Octavious Atkins is now forced to watch the man convicted of killing their loved one walk out of jail, even if only temporarily, due to what officials describe as a paperwork delay.
With Green’s sentencing scheduled for November, attention now turns to whether Shelby County officials can restore public trust in their system and ensure that such a costly mistake never happens again.
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