ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — The man sentenced to life in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend is once again behind bars. 23-year-old Kathan Guzman was apprehended on Friday after being set free from the Clayton County Jail in Georgia on March 27th.
Guzman had just started serving his sentence after he was convicted of strangling 19-year-old Delila Grayson in 2022. “I’m still uneasy. However, to me, he is set to serve the sentence he was supposed to serve,” said Christina Grayson, Delila’s mother. “He is where he should be.”
The sheriff’s office in Clayton County blames the mistake on a lack of training and lack of attention for the mistake.
Multiple law enforcement agencies were involved in the search for the man, both in Georgia and Florida. Guzman’s mother—who drove up to Georgia to pick up her son when she found out he had been released—said she called all authorities involved in her case to make sure the release was accurate. In the end, she brought her son home and was ready to start a new life.
“Here he is being ripped out of our lives again. He gave himself to you, he turned himself in, and you let him back out,” said Iris Guzman, Kathan’s mother. “[it was] just a regular day talking about getting documents together to go get. Before I knew it, my house was surrounded, my house was rushed, and my family was traumatized, all because of someone else’s mistake.
The incident happened in August of 2022 in Riverdale, Georgia. Court documents show that investigators arrived at Delila’s home and found her dead in a bathtub. Delila, who grew up in Kissimmee, had moved to Georgia with Guzman, who was her boyfriend at the time, in hopes of starting a life with him.
The Clayton County Sheriff’s Office posted to Facebook that it is investigating what led to the mishap and blamed a lack of attention and training for it.
Clayton County Citizens,
On October 25, 2024, Kathan Guzman was sentenced to life in prison for murder in Clayton County Superior Court. He was awaiting transfer to the Georgia Department of Corrections, where he was slated to serve his sentence.
On March 27, 2025, at approximately 4:49 p.m., Kathan Guzman was released in error from the Clayton County Jail. The cause of the release is under investigation, and disciplinary actions are pending. Once the investigation is complete, it may result in the termination of employees within the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office.
On April 8, 2025, at approximately 1:47 p.m., the District Attorney’s Office of the Clayton County Judicial Circuit contacted me directly inquiring about Guzman, which is when the inadvertent release was discovered.
I immediately activated my Fugitive Squad and through the relationships and partnerships I’ve built over the last two years with other law enforcement agencies, I personally contacted every Metro Atlanta Sheriff. Within 60 minutes, I had secured resources from as far away as Paulding County.
In addition to the Sheriffs, Atlanta Police Chief Darin Schierbaum and Clayton County Police Chief Kevin Roberts also sent resources to assist.
All of the fugitive experts convened at the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, formulated a plan, and launched the search for Guzman.
Investigators quickly gathered intelligence, followed up on leads, deployed surveillance teams, brainstormed ideas, and utilized a variety of techniques to narrow down Guzman’s location—which was determined to be outside the state of Georgia.
Once I contacted the U.S. Marshals and turned over all the information gathered, they began their work. I am proud to report that earlier today, April 11, 2025, the U.S. Marshals apprehended Guzman in Florida.
I would like to personally acknowledge all the sheriffs, police chiefs, and the Clayton County District Attorney’s Office for their assistance.
Guzman is expected to be transferred back to the Clayton County Jail while the investigation into the case continues. This marks the second case of mistakenly released inmates from the same jail. In January 2024, murder suspect Zion River Shaka was transferred from the Fulton County Jail and sent to the custody of the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office for a scheduled hearing, with instructions to return to the Fulton County Jail afterward. However, he was mistakenly released after the hearing. Jail records show he was booked back in the Fulton County Jail in June 2024.
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