INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis woman could face between one and six years in prison after the Marion County Sheriff’s Office accused her of assisting a criminal, even though the wanted man she is accused of assisting was erroneously released from jail by MCSO staff.
According to court documents, on Sept. 11, Kevin Mason was arrested in Indianapolis on three outstanding warrants from Minnesota. Mason was wanted in connection with a deadly shooting that occurred in Minneapolis in 2021 and was taken into custody for a charge of murder on top of a weapon possession charge and a parole violation.
Court documents reveal that Mason was at his girlfriend’s home on E. 31st Street when he was arrested on Sept. 11. Two days later, however, Mason was released from jail at 11:08 a.m. due to a clerical error. The Marion County Sheriff’s Office has since fired two records clerks after opening an investigation into the improper release.
Despite the sheriff’s office learning of Mason’s release, no announcement was made notifying the public that an accused murderer had been released mistakenly from prison until Sept. 19, six days after Mason was let out.
Court documents reveal that Mason’s girlfriend, Desiree Oliver, received a phone call from Mason once he learned of his release on Sept. 11. He asked Oliver to come pick him up.
“They let you out?” she reportedly responded.
While investigators claim that Oliver “sounded surprised” by learning that Mason was set free from jail, never in the probable cause affidavit do investigators conclusively conclude that Oliver knew the severity of Mason’s charges.
When an MCSO sergeant interviewed Oliver on Sept. 20, Oliver told the investigator that she had known Mason for approximately six months and met him via Instagram. Oliver claimed, however, that she knew Mason by the name “Knowledge” and didn’t know his true name was Kevin Mason until police arrived at her home on Sept. 11 to arrest him on outstanding warrants.
In the probable cause affidavit, investigators stated that Oliver spoke to Mason via telephone during the short time he was incarcerated. Investigators concluded in the document that “jail calls between Mason and Oliver would have made Oliver aware why he was currently in custody,” although there is no further information provided that clarifies how Oliver would have been made aware of the severity of his charges or if any specific comments were made in the jail calls by Mason to Oliver that would confirm her knowledge of his murder charge.
The court documents do reveal that Oliver told police she dropped Mason off near the Keystone Fashion Mall sometime after his release from jail. Mason reportedly used her phone to contact another unknown individual.
After allowing investigators to search her phone, police reported finding messages between Mason and Oliver where the wanted man asks her questions such as, “Is anyone following you?”; “Is there a tracker on your car?”; and “Is your phone in your name?”
According to the documents, further messages between the two discussed her sending him personal items and plans for the two to meet up again in person.
Investigators also accused Oliver of initially lying to police on Sept. 13 when deputies went to her home on E. 31st Street and she told them — via security camera — that Mason was still in jail to her knowledge. According to the court documents, traffic cameras recorded Oliver’s vehicle picking up Mason after his release from jail.
Oliver faces a Level 5 felony count of assisting a criminal, a charge that can carry up to six years in prison.
