An 18-year-old man who had already been adjudicated — the juvenile-court equivalent of being found guilty — in a juvenile muder case was mistakenly released from the Bexar County Jail last month. Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said deputies did not see any active warrants or holds in their system at the time of his release.
Angel David Salas was released on Nov. 19, following typical procedure that BCSO deputies review the Odyssey system that manages jail and court records. They found no outstanding adult warrants or holds, according to a statement issued Wednesday.
The sheriff’s office stated that the county’s Odyssey system showed the juvenile warrants for Salas had been recalled, a procedural change that can occur after a juvenile has already been adjudicated and advanced to the sentencing phase. But what that system did not show was that the juvenile murder case had already reached the determinate-sentence stage last summer.
According to court records reviewed by the San Antonio Report, Salas had received a determinative sentencing hearing on July 18, a hearing that follows conviction or a plea deal to determine the length and structure of his punishment.
Those same court records indicated that all misdemeanor charges were to be dismissed following the determinate sentencing trial of the juvenile murder case with dismissal orders set to be given to the courts by July 21.
BCSO reported that a charge for Manufacture or Delivery of a Controlled Substance reached its sentence expiration date on Nov. 19, the same day that Salas was erroneously released. By that point, all of Salas’s adult cases — including burglary of vehicles, resisting arrest and drug possession — had been dismissed or marked “judgment satisfied” or “sentence expired,” meaning he had already completed the jail time associated with those cases on July 31.
The sheriff’s office said they did not have access to Salas’s juvenile records at the time of the incident because juvenile information is on a separate, restricted database outside of their authorized network. Deputies relied on the databases available to them, including Odyssey and state and federal warrant checks, which showed no active warrants and no reason for Salas to be held in jail.
The mistake went undiscovered until Dec. 1, when the Juvenile Courts notified BCSO that Salas did not appear to be in Bexar County custody.
“Upon receiving this notification, BCSO immediately initiated efforts to locate Salas and worked continuously, overnight and into the following day,” the agency said.
Deputies arrested him the following evening. According to the Sheriff’s Office, information developed during a multi-unit search involving Bexar County’s Texas Anti Gang Unit, Street Crimes Unit and Gang Unit led to a home on Wild Olive Way on the far East Side, where surveillance teams saw a man matching Salas’ description enter an Uber outside of the residence.
Deputies followed the vehicle and conducted a coordinated traffic stop on Foster Road around 9:25 p.m., identifying Salas by his distinctive neck tattoos. He was taken into custody without incident and transferred to Juvenile Gang officers.
How could a person already adjudicated in a juvenile murder case be mistakenly released from the county jail? The Sheriff’s Office referred nearly all questions to the county’s public information officer and Juvenile Detentions. Juvenile Probation officials also referred questions back to the county.
County spokesperson Monica Ramos said in an interview that the error resulted solely from “end-user” issues relating to access and training on the Odyssey system. Ramos said deputies did not have the proper permissions to view juvenile information and had not been trained to access the restricted juvenile system.
BCSO confirmed that on Tuesday, Dec. 2 those permissions were formally granted and system access was updated.
Salas had multiple juvenile hearings throughout 2025 related to the murder case, including the scheduled July 18 sentencing hearing. Because juvenile records are sealed under Texas law, it remains unclear whether that hearing occurred or what his final sentence may be.
Salas is now back in the Bexar County Jail and is booked on warrants for murder and two counts of aggravated robbery.
County officials have not said whether they are reviewing other releases to determine whether similar access issues may have affected additional cases.
