HOUSTON – After nearly three years in jail—and just before his trial was set to begin—the Harris County District Attorney’s Office dismissed the murder case against 50-year-old James London on April 10, citing one reason: it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
London was released from jail on April 17, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office confirmed—about three years and three months after he was accused of fatally shooting Jaquary White in northeast Houston.
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Surveillance video appeared to capture the Jan. 28, 2023, shooting involving two homeless men, according to records.
The footage also reportedly showed an argument earlier in the day, along with a witness who described a possible motive.
Despite a motion to quash the indictment filed by his attorney, a request for a new court-appointed attorney, letters London sent to the judge, and concerns about a forensic investigator who had been fired for dishonesty and lack of candor in an unrelated case, nothing appeared to alter the trajectory of the case—until just before trial.
On April 7, three days before trial was scheduled to begin, prosecutors wrote in court records that they met with a key witness.
Records said that a woman—who had previously dated London and later began a relationship with the victim—reportedly “gave multiple statements that contradicted what she had previously told patrol officers and the detective.”
The murder investigation
Around 10 p.m. on Jan. 28, 2023, White was found shot in a parking lot on Collingsworth Street.
Houston police investigators determined the shooting occurred near Boswell Street, with White running to the parking lot for help.
Investigators interviewed the woman, who said she was in a relationship with White and that the two had been staying in a tent in a vacant lot near Elysian and Boswell.
She told police that earlier in the day, she argued with her ex-boyfriend, London, over money he had lent her.
According to her initial statement, London threatened both her and White before leaving, and she did not see him again.
She told officers she believed London shot White “because London did not like that she was in a relationship with [White],” records stated.
Police reviewed surveillance video showing White running from the area of the tent and collapsing in a parking lot.
Investigators also cited “continuous surveillance video” that appeared to show London riding a bike in the area shortly before the shooting and remaining there until he left.
At one point, he was seen with his “right arm pointed toward the vacant lot, as if he is shooting a pistol,” according to records.
Phone records showed London contacted or attempted to contact the woman 167 times over roughly an hour and 15 minutes leading up to the shooting, with no further attempts afterward.
Cell tower data from T-Mobile also placed London’s phone in the area of Collingsworth Street at the time of the shooting, investigators said.
Contradicting statements
In a meeting with prosecutors just days before trial, the woman reportedly said London primarily got around on foot but occasionally used a bike—sometimes switching between two or three different bikes.
During the initial investigation, however, she told officers London always rode a beige or off-white bike, which is how she identified him in the surveillance footage.
Later, she told prosecutors the bike he rode that day was yellow, according to records.
She also initially told police she had contacted London about money for a down payment on a house.
In her later statement to prosecutors, she said she made that up and had been using London for money for months “because she felt like he owed her for putting a case on her in 2020 and her losing her kids,” records state.
Three days after that meeting, prosecutors filed paperwork to dismiss the case, writing: “Cannot prove beyond a reasonable doubt at this time. Subject to refile.”
Suspect’s criminal history
London has more than a dozen arrests in Harris County dating back to 1992, according to records and law enforcement sources. He also has prior convictions for drug-related charges and aggravated robbery.
At the time he was charged in White’s murder, prosecutors described him as a habitual felony offender with at least three prior violent convictions.
The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles filed a motion to revoke London’s parole after his arrest in July 2023, records show. That hold was lifted on April 16—days after the murder case was dismissed and one day before his release.
The DA’s Office declined to provide additional comment, citing the possibility the case could be refiled.