A capital murder charge was dropped against a Greenwood man accused of sexually assaulting and suffocating a 13-year-old boy in 2004.
Rodrick Jackson, 36, was released late Saturday from Leflore County Jail after the charge was dropped by the district attorney's office.
Jackson had been in jail since his arrest two days after the body of Roddrick Davis, of Greenwood, was found Oct. 19, 2004. The sixth-grader's nude body was found wrapped in a towel.
Authorities said that Jackson allegedly confessed to the murder.
Circuit Judge Betty Sanders of Greenwood threw out Jackson's confession Saturday, ruling the law enforcement interrogation that led to the confession was improper, Jackson's attorney Howard Powell Jr. said.
Powell, of Indianola, said his client is no longer facing any charges. A dismissal order is expected to be filed today, he said.
Roddrick Davis was a student at Threadgill Elementary School.
Relatives have said Davis was last seen as he headed to his home on Main Street about 9 p.m., Oct. 18, 2004, after meeting with some cousins at a convenience store. He reportedly got into a car with a man. Railroad workers found his body the next day.
In a statement in September 2006, Jackson's family said it "never believed the confession made by the defendant was a true confession from the beginning," and "no one has ever believed the defendant had a mental problem."
At the time, District Attorney Joyce Chiles maintained she was prosecuting the correct person.
The family's 2006 statement said an investigation of the case was conducted because "they feel injustice is drilling down its spikes to try and railroad the defendant into prison." Family members, who could not be reached for comment today, said in 2006 they believed DNA evidence would clear Jackson. Court records show that the only sperm found on Davis was his own. Skin taken from Davis' fingernails didn't match Jackson.
Chiles could not be reached for comment.
