Buggs sat in custody for three years at Rikers following his February 2018 second-degree murder arrest in the death of Ernest Brownlee, 55, who was shot in front of a Throop Avenue deli in Bed-Stuy. Court records indicated he was next due for a hearing in June on the murder charges.
At the time of his accidentally release, Department of Correction online inmate records also showed Buggs status as Released. He had been held in the Otis Bantum facility.
It appeared Buggs was released on an unrelated contempt of court finding, with Rikers staff not realizing he should still be locked up for his alleged role in the murder case.