Black Man Convicted Of Murder Still In Prison After 7 Years Despite DNA Test Proving His Innocence

Lydell Grant, Black man in prison despite DNA evidence
Houston, TX — 42-year old Lydell Grant, a Black man from Texas, has been behind bars for the past 7 years serv­ing a life sen­tence after being con­vict­ed of a mur­der that he says he did not com­mit. There has even been a DNA test admin­is­tered that has proved his inno­cence, and yet he still remains in prison. 

Grant was accused of chas­ing down and fatal­ly stab­bing Aaron Scheerhoorn, a 28-year old man, near a night club in Montrose, Texas in December 2010. Grant was arrest­ed days after the inci­dent because of a Crime Stoppers tip.

During the tri­al, no one tes­ti­fied about whether the vic­tim and Grant, who was a gang mem­ber and has pre­vi­ous arrest records, knew each oth­er before the inci­dent. He has since main­tained his inno­cence and said that he did not com­mit the crime. But in 2012, Grant was con­vict­ed and sen­tenced to life in prison for murder.

Just recent­ly, new evi­dence and tes­ti­monies prove his inno­cence. Aside from eye­wit­ness­es who said Grant was not the one who killed the vic­tim, the state DNA expert tes­ti­fied that Grant’s DNA does not match the DNA recov­ered from below the victim’s fingernails.

Moreover, the DNA test, which was even retest­ed by the Innocence Project of Texas and the DPS crime lab, reveals that the iden­ti­fied sus­pect still remains at large.

While his release and exon­er­a­tion are on the process, he could have been released on bond. Last week, Grant was in court for the hear­ing that would allow him to be released on bond, but the judge ruled he will remain in custody.

Another hear­ing is sched­uled in late November but his fam­i­ly was some­how dis­ap­point­ed that Grant would still have to remain in cus­tody and their reunion was post­poned until then.

We know he’s inno­cent, and we’re gonna fight to the end,” his aunt, Kitsye Grant, told ABC13. “They real­ly need to go and find the right per­son. What I feel bad for is the moth­er of the young man, the vic­tim. They got the wrong person.”