Suspect in cop killing was on house arrest but not monitored

The suspect in custody in the slaying of Philadelphia Police Officer Moses Walker Jr. was supposed to be on house arrest when the crime occurred, but he did not have monitoring equipment.

Rafael Jones, who has a history of robbery and weapons arrests, was ordered into house arrest by Common Pleas Court Judge Susan Schulman.

 

 “Jones was released [on Aug. 8] from custody after the court was advised by the jail that he had to be released to enter the home-detention program. The court had every expectation that the home confinement would begin immediately upon release,” said Frank Keel, a court system spokesman.

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Inmates with lesser sentences released on house arrest are committed to a city program in which monitoring devices are fitted as a condition of release, according to Mark McDonald, spokesman for Mayor Michael Nutter. McDonald says Jones, whose crimes were more serious, was under a state program, which handles house arrest differently.

“The state version is a program where the individual is released, essentially put on the street and told to go to the state office and sign up for the electronic monitoring there,” McDonald said.

McDonald says Jones never reported to have the monitoring set up.

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