2005 Capital Murder Charges are Dropped
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth) April 12, 2007 Section: B 2005 capital murder charges are dropped NATHANIEL JONES, STAR-TELEGRAM STAFF WRITER A capital murder charge against a 26-year-old Mesquite man accused in the 2005 shooting death of two men in a Grand Prairie motel has been dismissed. "After reviewing the remaining evidence, the case cannot be proved beyond a reasonable doubt," Tarrant County prosecutor Jennifer Tourje said Wednesday. "If the case can't be proven, then I need to dismiss it." Matthew Lee Harvel has been in the Tarrant County Jail since the 2005 shooting deaths of Scott Jett, 53, of Corpus Christi, and Harry Davidson, 45, of Nacogdoches. The shooting occurred during a drug deal in the La Hacienda motel, at 425 S. Great Southwest Parkway, according to police. Harvel remained in jail late Wednesday facing unrelated charges in Kaufman and Dallas counties, a prosecutor said. He and a friend accused in the shooting faced up to life in prison. The friend, Michael Evans, 24, a land surveyor from Lufkin, pleaded guilty last month to shooting the men, a prosecutor said. He was sentenced to 35 years in prison and took full responsibility for the killings. He told prosecutors Harvel left the room before the shooting occurred, said Wes Ball, Evans' attorney. "He has maintained this since the beginning," Ball said. "The justice system is slow but the district attorney's office examined this carefully and came to the right conclusion." Ball said Evans could have received less than 35 years had he implicated Harvelin the shootings. Jett was found dead inside the motel room. Davidson was flown by helicopter ambulance to a Dallas hospital and later died. Ball said Evans told him that Harvel left the room because he felt uneasy about Jett and Davidson. |
