HOUSTON – As authorities look for at least two suspects in a weekend house party shooting that left two teenagers dead and 19 others injured, there are new developments in the case.
The Harris County Sheriff's Office on Tuesday announced that a charge against one of the two suspects previously arrested in the shooting has been dropped.
Willie Young was released from jail late Tuesday afternoon. He's been cleared of any wrongdoing in the birthday party shooting that led to the deaths of two teens.
"This young man absolutely is owed an apology, but how sensitive is he (Sheriff Adrian Garcia) willing to be? It appears to me that he is not willing to be sensitive to this young man at all. He is innocent," said community activist Quanell X, who was with Young when he was released.
But his release means those responsible are still on the run.
"My concern is they get the right people," said Terrence Shepherd, whose daughter was killed.
"The only frustration that I really have is that they haven't been found," said Lawrence Guidry, father of the other shooting victim.
Two fathers, both worried about the confusion surrounding who was responsible for a deadly birthday party shooting are still on the loose. Lawrence Guidry's son, Que'ric Richardson, was killed. Terrence Shepherd's daughter, Arielle, was also shot and killed the melee.
Terrence Shepherd said, "I want them to feel the full extent of the law."
Guidry said, "I just want you to do the right thing so my family can have some closure."
On Monday, Harris County Sheriff's Office detectives arrested two men, Randy Stewart and Willie Young. Both were accused of being the shooters at the party. But on Tuesday, the charges against Young were dropped. Several people came forward to say detectives got it wrong and that Young was innocent.
"It was a nightmare scene, completely chaotic. People running everywhere, shot, hurt," said Harris County District Attorney Devon Anderson.
Anderson says she is confident detectives are working through the patchwork of stories to track down those responsible, citing that there were more than 100 people at that party.
For these two fathers justice can't come quickly enough.
"I have forgiven those people that have taken my daughter, but you have to punish for things that you do," said Shepherd.
Guidry told Local 2, "Someone has seen him, someone has seen his face and if that person is out there, I beg them that they do the right thing."
Investigators say members were at that party and they're still working to find whether that was the motive for this shooting.
Earlier Tuesday
Prosecutor Katherine McDaniel said Tuesday that the shooting might have occurred as part of a gang dispute. That further contradicts initial statements by authorities that the deadly shooting Saturday started as a result of celebratory gunfire.
McDaniel spoke before an expected court appearance Tuesday morning by the two men arrested so far.
Willie Young, 21, and Randy Stewart, 18, were arrested Monday morning. Stewart is charged with aggravated assault.
At around 4 a.m. Tuesday, Young, 21, appeared before a judge in probable cause court. He was facing a charge of deadly conduct for discharging a firearm towards a habitation, building or vehicle.
But then Tuesday afternoon the charge against Young was dropped. The Harris County District Attorney's Office says the charge was dropped at the request of the Harris County Sheriff's Office.
The sheriff's office says three people who knew Young told them he had fired a gun at the party, but deputies say other witnesses came forward to provide information that cleared him.
Young's family had already come to his defense. His sister, Brayiannia Young, was shot in the foot while trying to hide under a table during the delay birthday party. She said her brother is innocent.
"I know for a fact it wasn't my brother," she said.
Young's mother, Yolanda, said she sent her son to pick up his sister because she was at the party without permission.
Young said her son took his sister and several wounded party goers to the hospital.
As authorities continue searching for suspects in the case, they ask that anyone with information about the shootings to call the Homicide Division at 713-967-5810 or call Crime Stoppers of Houston at 713-222-TIPS.