HOUSTON – Charges have been dropped against Che Calhoun, the man accused in the stabbing death of 11-year-old Josue Flores, police said.
File: Che Calhoun dismissal paperwork
SEE THE DISMISSAL PAPERWORK HERE
Calhoun had been charged with murder in the stabbing case, and was facing several other charges for an incident in which he ran from officers and was Tasered.
Houston police held a press conference Friday to discuss the case. Investigators said Calhoun's alibi on the day Josue was killed checks out. Officials confirmed he was in Pearland at the time the boy was killed.
"(Investigators) located witnesses from his alibi and late Thursday night, we recovered physical evidence that he (Calhoun) was in Pearland," Lt. Robert Blain with the HPD homicide unit said.
SEE THE SURVEILLANCE VIDEO OF CALHOUN IN THE STORE
He also said at Friday's press conference that when police first charged Calhoun with murder, they felt they had a good case and that a witness picked Calhoun from a lineup.
"That witness even told me Calhoun was the one who killed Josue," Blain said.
Calhoun was accused of stabbing the boy repeatedly as the 11-year-old walked home from Marshal Middle School Tuesday afternoon.
Investigators said Calhoun was involved in an incident with METRO police on Monday, the day before Flores' death, in the same area, wearing the same clothes as the killer. From that incident, investigators connected him to Josue's murder.
In Monday's incident, Calhoun was captured on camera fighting with a man in the street and then running away from police after being Tased. Officers and a K-9 unit searched but never found Calhoun that day.
“He had been involved in an assault and evading arrest with METRO police officers,” said Blain.
The incident was not far from the crime scene and they said he wore the same clothes as the killer. Then, an eye witness to the murder confirmed the link.
“We wound up putting together a sequential photo showing it to a witness who wound up identifying him as the suspect from the murder case,” said Blain.
[VIDEO: Calhoun Tased by police officers]
Police arrested Calhoun on Wednesday, but they said he quickly talked about an alibi.
“We wound up recovering physical evidence showing that he was down in Pearland and could not have been at the location where the murder occurred.”
Surveillance video is that physical evidence police and prosecutors needed to drop Calhoun's murder charge.
In the formal dismissal filing, it said, "Probable cause for arrest existed, but defendant has provided alibi to HPD that has been verified.”
Calhoun has posted bond and is expected to be released from Harris County jail Friday. He still faces charges of evading arrest from the incident Monday.
The stabbing suspect is still on the loose. He is described as a black man, 25-30 years old, about 6 feet tall and weighing around 180 pounds. He was wearing black clothing with a green shirt over his shoulder at the time of the stabbing.
Investigators are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.
Charges dropped in 11-year-old's murder, what went wrong?
Posted by KPRC2 / Click2Houston on Friday, May 20, 2016
;