RALEIGH, N.C. -- A North Carolina man facing a murder charge in Wake County was mistakenly released after completing a state prison sentence for drug-related crimes.

Multiple media outlets reported 40-year-old William "Jabo" Bryant was let out of the Bertie Correctional Institution last week.

Wake County Sheriff Donnie Harrison says his office filed paperwork asking that Bryant be sent to them because he and his brother are charged with murder in the death of a taxi driver shot in the face with a shotgun in 1999.

State prison spokesman Keith Acree says officials never received the documents.

Prison workers are also supposed to check state court records to verify there are no pending charges and Acree says authorities are investigating the circumstances of Bryant's release.

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