NEW ORLEANS — Antonio Donde Tyson was jailed in 1993 after convictions for forcible rape, armed robbery and aggravated burglary.
Tyson was let out of prison in August of this year and is accused, just about three months later, of participating in the killing of two people and the burning of their bodies sometime between Sunday night and Monday morning in Covington.
The bodies were found behind a glass-making company in downtown Covington. Though the identities of the victims are not confirmed, the current pastor of St. Peter said he was "unsettled and praying" while saying that former pastor Otis Young and pastoral associate Ruth Prats have been missing since Sunday evening.
Tyson, who was arrested Monday afternoon, remains in jail without bond.
Tyson's convictions in 1993 came for violent offenses, so some may wonder why he was able to get out of prison at all.
The Louisiana Department of Corrections issued a statement Tuesday, explaining the process that had Tyson out of prison.
Communications Director Ken Pastorick said that Tyson was sentenced by a state district judge in 1993 to 40 years for forcible rape, 40 years for armed robbery and 30 years for aggravated burglary.
The sentences rain concurrently rather than consecutively. That means the sentence was 40 years, or the length of the longest one as opposed to over 100 years had they run consecutively, or one after the other.
Pastorick said that the sentence time computation is determined by the Louisiana law in effect at the time the crimes were committed. Tyson had to served 50 percent of the time before being eligible for good time release.
Tyson could have been eligible for release as early as 2012, according to Pastorick, but "due to his conduct in prison, Tyson lost 4,219 days of good time." He did earn 360 days for courses and programming he took while incarcerated. He was released on August 21. Pastorick said that he had complied with the conditions of his good time parole by having employment and a place to live.