Convicted Attempted Murderer Accidentally Freed By Miami-Dade Corrections

Dexter Davis was convicted of stabbing his girlfriend with a butcher knife on Monday and set free against orders Tuesday morning

A convicted attempted murder mistakenly released from MIami-Dade County Jail on Tuesday is being sought by a multi-agency task force of local and federal law enforcement.

Opa Locka resident Dexter A. Davis was convicted Monday of stabbing his ex-girlfriend 15 times with a foot-long butcher knife.

Just hours later, the 36-year-old police say is extremely dangerous was free and unaccounted for, with a warrant issued for his arrest.

Following his conviction Monday a judge ordered that Davis remain in custody without bond awaiting his sentencing in December, but corrections records show he was released at 9:35 a.m. Tuesday morning. 

His freedom was granted despite hours-old convictions for attempted pre-meditated murder, armed burglary and assault, and two counts of child abuse.

"The defendant was not supposed to be released from the Dade County Jail and therefor feloniously escaped," read the arrest warrant.

Sources told NBCMiami the mix-up apparently took place because the Davis had also been charged with a misdemeanor for violating his victim's restraining order, for which he was sentenced to time served. The corrections worker somehow got that sentence confused with the order to hold Davis on the attempted murder and other charges, the sources said.

Release papers bore an abbreviation for sentence expired.

"Miami-Dade Corrections has initiated an internal investigation as to how Dexter Davis was released," said Corrections spokesperson Janelle Hall. "Comments will not be made until after the investigation is complete."

Davis was arrested in 2009 by Opa Locka police after officers responded to reports of a domestic disturbance at the home he had shared with his former girlfriend, who had a restraining order out against him, according to the police report.

Officers entered to find the apartment covered in blood and Davis' ex-girlfriend lying in back bedroom with multiple stab wounds and the butcher knife still embedded in her left arm, the report said.

Her recovery was detailed in a 2010 Miami Herald report, which said her oldest daughter witnessed Davis' brutal attack from her bedroom. 

Davis was facing possible life in prison for the attempted murder, expecting a judge to rule on his sentencing December 9.

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