You know, it would help a lot if you guys would actually read the links provided, rather than just assuming the reason he was released was the virus.
No. He was not released. He had been declared mentally incompetent and was being kept at a private residential facility (mental hospital), where he escaped and then took out the old woman.
From the OP's link..............................................
A mental examination conducted in October 2019 deemed Lewis “temporarily incompetent,” and he was committed to a psychiatric hospital, KTRK reported. In March, a judge approved a request from the head of the mental facility that Lewis’ stay be extended by 60 days.
On April 30, a judge waived two bonds -- one for felony theft, the second for the assault on the peace officer – and approved his transfer to a private residential care facility. By May 1, he was released to the Royal Personal Care Home. He somehow escaped before Saturday’s incident, but few details were released by authorities.
“The defendant had a history of mental illness and he should have been kept off the streets. He recently absconded from the personal-care facility where the judge ordered he live instead of being held in jail,” the Houston District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
He was being checked for mental illness and escaped. No, this dude was NOT released into the public because of COVID 19.