LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. — It's been roughly two weeks since a man once accused of murdering a 25-year-old woman was accidentally released from the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center.
Stone Colburn, 25, was originally arrested on July 3, 2021, after his brother's girlfriend, later identified as 25-year-old Natalie Crow, was found stabbed to death at the end of the driveway of their Roundhill home.
On Oct. 7, Colburn was accidentally released from the Loudoun County Adult Detention Center after the Loudoun County Commonwealth's Attorney's Office stopped pursuing a murder charge against him. However, Colburn was still facing a felony charge of concealment of a dead body, meaning he should never have been released from jail.
Fortunately, police later located Colburn in Chatham County, Georgia about a day later. At that point, the accidental release had already set off a political firestorm, garnering social media attention across the county.
Loudoun Commonwealth's Attorney Bute Biberaj claims her office did everything it was supposed to do and that the error in releasing Colburn was likely made at the jail, which the county sheriff's office operates.
However, Loudoun County Supervisor Kristen Umstattd pointed the finger of blame at Biberaj Tuesday. She added she felt it was unfair to place blame on the sheriff’s office.
“It appears this is what has happened with Loudoun Commonwealth's attorney in a recent case when she blamed the deputies in the jail for what appeared to be her own missteps,” said Umstattd.
Biberaj responded to Umstattd's accusations Wednesday afternoon during a press conference. She said her team alerted staff at the jail that Colburn was not to be released due to his concealment charge prior to his accidental dismissal from jail.
"We have the documents to support the actions that we took," Biberaj said.
She added that if the sheriff's office had questions about what it was supposed to do, it could have called her office.
“The sheriff's office has our deputies, and most of our attorney's cell phone numbers, available to them," she said.
Loudoun County Board of Supervisors Chair Phyllis Randall also weighed in on this issue Tuesday. She said when it comes to actually figuring out why Colburn was accidentally released, the sheriff’s office should not be a part of the investigation.
“I actually do not believe the sheriff should do the investigation," she said. "I think he has skin in this game. I hope there's a more in independent party.”
In response, Sheriff Mike Chapman said he wasn’t sure what Randall was talking about. Either way, he maintains his office will get to the bottom of what happened.
“We're looking at every aspect of this," he said. "We're doing an internal review on this."
WUSA9 asked both Biberaj and Chapman if they were concerned fingerpointing in county government could result an erosion in the public's trust in Loudoun's justice system.
“That is my biggest concern," Biberaj replied. "I've been in this position now for approximately three years and it has always been if you have a situation where you watched what has occurred, there's never been this much oversight, this much detailed criticism about the activities of a prosecutor's office in Loudoun County.”
“It's unfortunate," Chapman said. "We should all be on the same team, we all want to make sure that we're making sure justice is served out there.”