Man claims he was wrongfully convicted of stabbing murder after new evidence is uncovered, Innocence Project of Texas steps in

HOUSTON - Isiah Carey speaks to a local Houston family who claims their loved one Lydell Grant is currently sitting in a jail cell for a crime he did not commit.

Grant's family and legal team, The Innocence Project of Texas, claims he was wrongfully convicted of a stabbing murder in what is a classic case of mistaken eyewitness identification. The murder of Aaron Scheerhoorn happened back in 2010 in front of a nightclub in the Houston Montrose area. Grant was later convicted of the murder in 2012 and sentenced to life in prison.

However, Grant's legal team now says new DNA testing including recent testing done by the Texas Department of Public Safety's lab in Houston absolutely confirmed that the trial testimony in 2012 presented by the prosecutors was inaccurate and false and that Mr. Grant was completely excluded. Further, in a DPS document, dated June 2, 2019, DPS notified Mr. Grant’s attorneys that there was a match in the CODIS database (National Combined DNA Index database system used to support FBI criminal justice cases) to the DNA found underneath the victim's fingernails. The match was to an offender from Texas with a criminal history who matched the original eyewitness descriptions, who was not Mr. Grant. 

FOX 26 reached out to the Harris County District Attorney's Office about this case and they sent over the following statement. 

“New science requires a new investigation. That is what we are doing. We are carefully reviewing Mr. Grant’s claim of actual innocence while being mindful that there is other evidence to be considered including multiple eyewitnesses who tie Grant to the murder.”

The Innocence Project of Texas is a member of the Innocent Network, an affiliation of organizations dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove the innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted.