Newly tested DNA from under the victim’s fingernails exonerated Lydell Grant and convicted Jermario Carter for the murder of Aaron Scherhorn in 2010. Representatives from the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals ruled in favor of his innocence on May 19, 2021.
What We Know:
- Grant was released in November of 2019 after being granted a $100,000 bond. With the help of his lawyer and executive director of The Innocence Project of Texas, Mike Ware, new evidence was agreed to be examined. DNA collected from the victim showed no trace of Grant.
- Ware received initial DNA test results from the Harris District Attorney’s Office which he then sent to CyberGenetics with the help of Dr. Angie Ambers. The technology used at CyberGenetics relies on a computer algorithm to separate DNA mixtures. Prosecutors questioned the new evidence that placed Jermario Carter at the scene of the crime.
- Scherhorn was murdered in 2010 outside of a nightclub in Houston. Police reported that Scherhorn initially ran into the nightclub for help, but was turned away by the bouncer. He was then stabbed several more times in front of a dozen eyewitnesses.
- Five days following the incident, Grant was pulled over during a traffic stop where police discovered he was driving with a suspended license. Police received a tip and labeled him as a suspect in the stabbing. Six eyewitnesses picked Grant from a photo lineup.
- As the prosecution collected further evidence against Carter, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg released Grant on bond on November 26, 2019.
- The court ruled on May 19, 2021, that Grant was innocent following months of delay. Judge Bert Richardson of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals attributed the delay of Grant’s case to incomplete case records and logistical delays because of the pandemic. Richardson told NBC News, “It is not that this Court is reluctant to grant actual innocence; it’s merely that we are unable to do so without a complete record.”
- Grant is entitled to up to $80,000 worth of compensation for every year he spent behind bars. He is seeking to get his record expunged.
According to the National Exoneration Registry, there were 129 exonerations in 2020. Over these 129 individuals, defendants lost a total of 1,737 years wrongfully imprisoned.
