Mother fears for her life after daughter’s killer mistakenly released from jail
By Hayley Crombleholme
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KISSIMMEE, Florida (WESH) — A Kissimmee woman said she’s been left fearing for her life after her daughter’s killer was mistakenly released from jail just months into his life sentence.
Christina Grayson says her daughter Delila was dating Kathan Guzman. She says the two met at Poinciana High School and ultimately moved to Georgia.
In 2022, when Delila was just 19, Guzman was arrested for strangling her during an argument and even confessed to the murder. He was convicted in October 2024.
Grayson says she was reassured he was not going to get out, at least not for decades.
“It was like, OK, we went home with that. The reassurance,” she said. “And that’s not what happened.”
On Tuesday, she got a call.
“That a coding error happened, and he was released to the public,” she said.
The Clayton County Sheriff’s Office told WESH’s sister station that Guzman’s release was the result of workers not paying attention. The charges he was convicted for were missed in a court document and only saw a motion not to prosecute on another charge.
The district attorney released a statement saying as soon as the erroneous release was confirmed, they contacted the victim’s mother.
Despite being contacted on April 8, Grayson believes Guzman has been out since March 27 — only about five months into his sentence.
She says she’s afraid for her life. She’s barely getting any sleep.
“After checking the windows five times and the doors six times and everything that moved, I was grabbing my gun because it could be him,” Grayson said.
According to WESH’s sister station in Atlanta, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office said they didn’t initially alert the public that Guzman had been released because they didn’t want him to know they were looking for him.
Grayson said it’s not just her life she’s worried about.
“You should be afraid. Someone could be injured, hurt, deceased,” she said.
The U.S. Marshals Service has confirmed they are involved in the search for Guzman.
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