Editor's Note: The above video is from Nov. 26, 2019, when Lydell Grant was released on bond.
HOUSTON — Lydell Grant is one step closer to becoming a free man.
State District Judge George Powell issued an order on Dec. 26 declaring Grant’s “conviction be vacated.”
Grant’s case now heads to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, which will make the ultimate ruling on his exoneration and actual innocence.
Grant, 42, was sentenced to life in prison in December 2012 for murdering a 28-year-old Aaron Scheerhoorn outside a Montrose bar. Six eyewitnesses pointed him out of a photo lineup as the killer.
Grant spent nearly seven years in prison before he was released on bail just before Thanksgiving as police re-examined the case after DNA evidence pointed to another man.
That investigation led to new murder charges filed against Jermarico Carter, who, police said, confessed to the crime. Carter is currently in Atlanta, Georgia, awaiting extradition to Texas.
The Harris County District Attorney's Office said it supports Grant's exoneration. Houston Chief of Police Art Acevedo offered an apology to Grant and his family, saying in statement, "We firmly believe the charges being filed on this second suspect, now linked by DNA and additional testing, will help bring closure to the families of Mr. Grant and Mr. Scheerhoorn."
Standing outside his mom’s home days before Christmas, Grant said he’s ready to start the next chapter in his life.
“2020—it’s a fresh beginning,” he said. “My future is so bright it’s blinding me.”
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