Murder suspect re-arrested after his inadvertent release

CLAYTON, Mo. -- Police re-arrested an accused killer Wednesday morning, a week after the suspect was accidentally released from a state prison due to a clerical error, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Web site, stltoday.com, reported Wednesday.

The suspect, Toywone Campbell, 29, of University City, had been held in the St. Louis County Jail since October on murder charges in the death of his 8-year-old stepson. Bail had been set at $1 million.

County officials transferred Campbell Feb. 21 to the Fulton Reception and Diagnostic Center in Fulton on a parole violation charge. Campbell served the remainder of his sentence on a conviction for possession of a controlled substance. Then state officials released him March 13.

Employees at the St. Louis County jail failed to notify the Missouri Department of Corrections that Campbell was wanted for murder, said Herb Bernson, spokesman for the jail.

"That was our fault," Bernson said. "It was our responsibility to notify the state of the detainer, and it got missed."

Bernson said the St. Louis County Justice Services department, which operates the jail, will conduct an internal investigation into the matter. Administrative action could be taken against any employee found to be at fault, he said.

"We will do everything possible to make sure these things don't happen again," Bernson said.

The St. Louis County Fugitive Task Force began looking for Campbell Tuesday afternoon. They arrested him in St. Louis City about 9:15 a.m. Wednesday.

When Campbell was arrested in October, University City police said Campbell had punched his stepson several times in the face to discipline him. The boy's mother found him unresponsive when she returned from work.

A similar incident happened in February in St. Louis, when murder suspect Derrick Boothe was accidentally released from a city jail after switching identities with another inmate. Boothe was captured a few days later.