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Man Wrongfully Convicted Of 2010 Murder Arrested For Alleged Road Rage Killing
DNA evidence exonerated Lydell Grant, 46, of a fatal stabbing but now he's behind bars again for allegedly shooting dead Edwin Arevalo following a minor car accident in Houston.
A Houston man exonerated in 2021 after serving more than seven years of a life sentence in prison for a fatal stabbing is back behind bars, this time for allegedly shooting dead another motorist in a road rage incident last week.
Lydell Grant, 46, allegedly ran a stop sign as he pulled away from a corner store near Hiram Clarke Road and Brentwood Park Drive with a woman in his white Lexus sedan around 11:50 p.m. on Thursday, striking 33-year-old Edwin Arevalo's Toyota Yaris in a "minor" crash, according to reporting by ABC 13.
Authorities allege Grant then exited the vehicle, shot Arevalo at least five times through his windshield and fled, according to CBS affiliate KHOU.
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Surveillance footage captured near the scene helped police identify Grant, who was arrested last Friday and arraigned on Saturday, according to the outlet. They tracked the Lexus to a nearby home where Grant and his girlfriend had been staying. Two children in the home were taken into custody by Child Protective Services, KHOU reported.
At his Saturday arraignment, Grant's defense attorneys noted that their client had been running his own home cleaning business for six months, ABC 13 reported, and financially supporting his mother. Because he was absolved of his 2010 murder charge, they said, his record has remained clean since 2009.
Prior to the 2010 stabbing, according to Houston Public Media, Grant was convicted for aggravated robbery in 1994, theft in 2004 and credit card-debit card abuse in 2009. Collectively, he served more than 11 years in jail for those offenses, the outlet reported.
Grant's bond was set at $1 million, according to the outlet - $300,000 more than the amount recommended by the Harris County District Attorney's Office. The magistrate judge ruled that should he post bail, Grant would be monitored on 24-hour house arrest due to concern for public safety.
Oxygen.com could not reach Jimmy Ortiz, Grant's listed public defender, for comment at press time.
Back in 2010, Houston police believed Grant was responsible for the stabbing death of 28-year-old Aaron Scheerhoorn, who was killed outside of a nightclub. There were multiple witnesses to the Dec. 10 attack and one of them called Crime Stoppers the following evening to report that he saw a man who he thought fit the description – that turned out to be Grant. After police put him in a photo lineup, six of seven witnesses identified Grant as the attacker, according to the Innocence Project of Texas. A jury convicted Grant of killing Scheerhoorn in 2012, despite the fact that he had an alibi witness.
In 2019, Grant was released from prison after DNA found under the Scheerhoorn's fingernails didn't match his, according to the Innocence Project of Texas, according to the Innocence Project Texas. He was formally exonerated in 2021.
After comparing that second party's DNA to the FBI's Combine DNA Index System, a match was found for 41-year-old Jermarico Carter. Innocence Project investigators learned that he had been in Houston around the time of the murder, and had even been arrested at a location near the fatal shooting a year earlier.
In light of their new evidence, police tracked down Carter in Atlanta, according to CBS News. He confessed to the killing, pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced in 2022.
The Innocence Project of Texas, which worked to get Grant exonerated, told KHOU that they "stand behind Mr. Grant's previous exoneration" despite the latest charges charges, which the organization stressed were based on a pending investigation.
"DNA evidence and the confession of the real perpetrator of the crime proved Mr. Grant's actual innocence," the nonprofit told the outlet. "His 2012 conviction was proven wrongful, and he spent eight years in prison as a result."
In a statement to ABC 13, the organization wrote that they were "saddened by the news of this tragic event" and that their "thoughts and sympathies go out to the victim's family."
