HOUSTON – A Houston man declared innocent in 2021 after being convicted in a fatal stabbing and serving seven years in prison has been charged with murder in the shooting of a fellow motorist, police said.
Lydell Grant, 46, is accused of killing Edwin Arevalo, 33, following a minor traffic collision Thursday night, Houston police said. Police said Grant got out of his vehicle, shot Arevalo, and then fled.
Grant was taken into custody Friday after a warrant was issued for his arrest, police said. He remained jailed Sunday on a $1 million bond. The attorney for Grant listed in court records in this case could not immediately be reached on Sunday.
In 2012, Grant was convicted of killing 28-year-old Aaron Scheerhoorn, who was stabbed outside a Houston bar in 2010. Six eyewitnesses to the stabbing had testified against Grant at trial.
But Grant was declared innocent in May 2021 by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals after a new analysis of DNA found on the victim’s fingernails pointed to Grant’s innocence. He had served seven years of a life sentence when he was freed on bond in 2019 to await the appeals court’s decision.
In 2019, police arrested Jermarico Carter for Scheerhoorn’s killing. Carter, who was tracked down in Atlanta, confessed to the killing. He pleaded guilty to murder in 2022 and was sent to prison.
The Innocence Project released this statement regarding Grant’s arrest:
We are saddened by the news of this tragic event and our thoughts and sympathies go out to the victim’s family. As this is an ongoing investigation, we cannot comment on the specifics of this incident.
We stand behind Mr. Grant’s previous exoneration, which was granted by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. DNA evidence and the confession of the real perpetrator of the crime proved Mr. Grant’s actual innocence. His 2012 conviction was proven wrongful, and he spent eight years in prison as a result.
The important work of supporting innocent people wrongly convicted of crimes is an essential part of our collective work towards a better and more just society, and we remain committed to that goal.