Murder Suspect Surrendered, Officials Say

A 21-year-old murder suspect who was mistakenly released from the Men’s Central Jail turned himself in to the Sheriff’s Department rather than being captured, law enforcement officials said Thursday.

Pedro Quezada, 21, a suspect in a 1991 killing in Los Angeles, was inadvertently set free early Wednesday because of an error by a clerk, sheriff’s officials said.

Quezada’s sister, Dianna, 30, said her brother was not aware that his release was a mistake. After hearing news reports, he drove to her Fontana home Wednesday afternoon and surrendered to authorities, who had already stopped there to look for him.

“He was more than happy to turn himself in,” Dianna Quezada said. She added that her brother has denied involvement in the 1991 killing.

A sheriff’s spokesman had announced Wednesday afternoon--at the time that Quezada was being escorted back into the jail--that the suspect had been captured by undercover officers. But after a more thorough investigation, authorities said, they determined that Quezada had actually contacted the Sheriff’s Department.

“Our detectives made contact with several of Quezada’s family members and friends and told them they were looking for him,” said Sgt. Ronald Spear, a sheriff’s spokesman. “At some point, a family member paged one of the detectives and said that he wanted to turn himself in and gave us the address of where he was at.”