'Let's Get It Right': Defense Attorneys Discuss Evidence After 15-Year-Old Cleared Of First Degree Murder Charge

(Editor's Note: The age of the victim, Cordae Carter, was erroneously reported to be 17 years. Carter was 16 years old.)

On Friday, Oklahoma County's District Attorney's office dismissed without prejudice a first-degree murder charge against 15-year-old Dayvion Hamilton.

Investigators arrested Hamilton in the days after an Aug. 25 shooting at a Choctaw High School football game, which killed 16-year-old Cordae Carter and injured two others.

A probable cause affidavit for his arrest claimed a witness identified Hamilton as the shooter, but the District Attorney revealed that the witness had recanted.

“To Cordae’s family, I promise we are not giving up on identifying and prosecuting the person responsible for his death,” said Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna in a statement.

However, attorneys for Hamilton claim the decision to dismiss the charge happened after months of irreparable reputational damage.

"His name was released publicly," said attorney Jaye Mendros, who co-represented Hamilton with attorney John Martino. "They've received death threats. He's been tried and convicted on social media. And this is another reason we're talking, too. Let's not try people on social media anymore. Let's wait and see what the evidence actually is. Because we believe he's in danger now that he's been released."

While the District Attorney's office only cited a lack of witnesses in its announcement dismissing the charge, Mendros and Martino claim they've obtained forensic evidence through criminal discovery which further proves Hamilton did not kill Carter.

Evidence shared through criminal discovery is not subject to the Oklahoma Open Records Act, and therefore News 9 cannot independently review the evidence while the investigation remains active.

"They ran ballistics testing on the gun that was used in the shooting," said Mendros. "Our client's DNA wasn't on it. The DNA of the victim and one other person was on it; someone unidentified. We agreed to allow them to consume samples, completely, to do further DNA testing. None of that incriminated our client. And it was based on all of that this case got dismissed against him."

News 9 contacted the District Attorney's office and Choctaw Police to verify the claims regarding forensic testing. Choctaw Police Chief Kelly Marshall referred News 9 to the District Attorney's office, which has yet to respond.

Additionally, Hamilton's defense teams argued witness interviews contradicted the identification made by the witness relied on by the prosecutors leading up to the dismissal of the charge.

"Once we read all the police reports," Mendros explained, "this one incredibly weak, questionable identification — which possibly could have been our client, contradicted every other witness's description of the shooter. And they did no further identification to identify the guy in the red sweatpants everyone was saying was the shooter."

Mendros and Martino also rebuffed the description provided in the arrest affidavit, which originally claimed the witness recognized Hamilton by his "body shape, height, and way he walked."

"They got one person with half of an identification and just latched onto our client and never let go," said Martino. "It's unfortunate they can't do this stuff and do the due diligence before they arrest somebody and drag his name through the mud."

His team also fought against the severity of the charge Hamilton faced, which cost him protections and privacy typically offered to juveniles and instead tried him as an adult.

"It's certainly a relief for him and his mother that they decided to dismiss this," Mendros said. "But it doesn't change the fact that it's changed his entire life."

Related Article: 15-Year-Old Charged With First-degree Murder In Deadly Choctaw Shooting