A man who was twice sentenced to death in the 1981 slaying of an Indiana police lieutenant was released from a state prison early Monday morning.
Zolo Agona Azania was known as Rufus Lee Averhart when he and two other men robbed a bank on Aug. 11, 1981, according to The Chicago Sun-Times.
Gary Police Lt. George Yaros responded to the bank's alarm and confronted the suspects in the parking lot when he was wounded in a shootout. The men ran to their vehicle, but Yaros went back to the 57-year-old officer and shot him in the chest.
Azania then fled with the other men and led police on a pursuit that ended in their arrests.
Azania was sentenced to death, but the Indiana Supreme Court overturned both sentences -- first in 1993, then again in 2002. In 2008, Lake County prosecutors made a deal with Azania that resulted in a 74-year prison sentence.
Azania served less than half of the negotiated sentence and received credit for good behavior.
Tim Yaros said that he was shocked by the news of his father's killer's release when he was notified around 7:30 a.m.
"I just got, like, a burning sensation in my stomach," Yaros said. "I just can’t believe it's happening."
