DELAWARE COUNTY. The saga over the alleged killer released from a Delaware County prison ended peacefully yesterday when the suspect turned himself in, but the prison is now under investigation for the mistake.
Taaqi Brown, 21, awaiting trial for the May 2009 death of Aaron Kearney, was released instead of his brother, Tariq Brown, 22, also being held at George W. Hill Correctional Facility in Thornbury. Once officials realized the mistake, it set off a massive manhunt until Brown surrendered to Philadelphia police around 10 a.m. yesterday.
Upper Darby Police Chief Michael Chitwood said he uttered some choice words when prison officials informed him of the snafu.
“You can’t print it, but you can imagine…Jesus Christ, how did that happen?” Chitwood said yesterday. “You gotta have some type of quality control in a jail. You’ve got somebody under maximum security on a murder charge…somebody’s gotta ask some questions.”
Community Education Centers, based in New Jersey, took over the contract to manage the prison in 2009 and was renewed in January.
“Overall, we’ve been pleased with them,” said Marianne Grace, the county’s executive director. “We will be looking at what occurred.”
CEC released a statement, which read in part: “Senior staff are on-site at GWHCF today conducting a review of [Monday] night’s events. Despite [the] incident, since assuming management of GWFC in January 2009 the company’s operational track record has been exceptional.”
