A man convicted in the killing of an 8-year-old boy and his mother in Bridgeport in 1999 has been granted clemency by now former president Joe Biden, drawing criticism across party lines. The case and trial drew huge public interest and even lead to changed laws around witness protection here in the state. Adrian Peeler, now 48, wasn’t set to be released on federal drug charges until 2033. He was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder stemming from the double murder of Karen Clarke, and her son, 8-year-old Leyroy, “BJ” Brown. They were shot and killed in their Bridgeport home. “Peeler, whoever did this to my grandchild and my daughter, there won’t be no lawyers to testify, there will be no one to vindicate them, they will have to vindicate themselves” Pearl Clarke, the victim’s mother and grandmother, said at a memorial back in 1999. On top of being convicted on the state conspiracy charge, he was also convicted federally on drug charges for the trafficking of cocaine through Bridgeport, according to court documents. He served his 25-year sentence for the conspiracy charge. It was completed at the end of 2021. He is currently serving the sentence for the federal drug charges at a federal prison in West Virginia. It was supposed to run until 2033. But former President Joe Biden granted him clemency at the end of his presidency. “A level of outrage, this is a terrible, terrible miscarriage of justice,” Mayor Joe Ganim said in a morning interview on WICC’s Melissa in the Morning. He was mayor of Bridgeport at the time of the murders. He noted he was furious with the decision. Ganim offered us a statement that read, “This miscarriage of justice sends yet another shockwave through the entire Bridgeport community. The brutal murder of an 8-year-old child and his mother in 1999 devastated our community and led to the establishment of Connecticut’s witness protection program. I agree with Senator Blumenthal’s statement that someone dropped the ball with President Biden pardoning this convicted murderer who ruthlessly took the lives of an innocent child and his mother leaving our community to grapple again with this horrific crime.” Similar sentiments from other former and current officials have been surfacing since the decision. “Former President Biden’s clemency for Adrian Peeler is a disgusting miscarriage of justice. Peeler’s conviction tied to brutal murders that prompted the creation of Connecticut’s witness protection program makes any leniency—federal or otherwise—utterly indefensible. This reckless act by Joe Biden dismisses the pain of the victims’ families and erodes public trust in the principles of justice. Such a careless decision at the close of his term should generate outrage here and throughout the nation,” State Rep. Vincent Candelora (R-Minority Leader) said in a statement. Criminal defense attorney James Bergen, of Shipman and Goodwin, was also puzzled by the decision. “They are only looking at the federal case, and the federal case, ‘OK, someone did a lot of time for drugs, alright, he’s done a lot of time, that’s enough,’ but in this case, it’s so different, someone didn’t have time to do their homework,” Bergen said. He noted that once clemency is granted like in this case, it can’t be reversed, but typically it isn’t a split-second decision. “You hate to have a fluke about something so horrid, and everyone agrees, both sides of the political aisle are really troubled,” Bergen said. State Sen. Richard Blumenthal was state attorney general at the time of the murders. In a statement, Blumenthal said, “It seems to me that someone dropped the ball here to let this person get released. This was a vicious murder that changed our laws. It also highlights how we need to take a look at the pardon system to see how it can be improved.”