The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals declared Lydell Grant innocent more than a year after he was released from prison, according to a statement from the Harris County District Attorney's Office.
A jury in 2012 sentenced Grant to life in prison for the 2010 stabbing death of Aaron Scheerhoorn outside a Montrose bar.
Lydell Grant speaks for 1st time since exoneration
Newly discovered evidence led to another suspect being charged with Scheerhoom's killing, according to the district attorney's office.
Even though he was released in 2019, Grant told ABC13 in Nov. 2020 that he was patiently waiting for the court's final say on his exoneration.
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"Being locked up, if I didn't learn anything else, I learned how to have patience," Grant told Eyewitness News at the time. "Whatever the judicial system is trying to do, whatever they have in mind to do, it's not going to work if it's not the right thing."
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Newly tested DNA evidence freed Grant in Nov. 2019. One month later, Houston police tracked down 42-year-old Jermarico Carter, who they say was Aaron Scheerhorn's actual killer.
"The exoneration of innocent individuals is as important as the conviction of guilty ones," Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Wednesday in a statement. "The highest responsibility of a prosecutor is to see that justice is done."
The court's decision means Grant can apply for $80,000 in state compensation for each year of his wrongful imprisonment.
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