Che Lajuan Calhoun. (Houston Police)
A suspect arrested in the fatal stabbing of an 11-year-old boy while walking home from school in Houston on Tuesday has been cleared, police say.
Che Lajuan Calhoun, 31, was arrested Wednesday in murder of Josue Flores, the Houston Chronicle reports. But on Friday, the murder charge against Calhoun was dropped after police said his alibi for the time of murder checked out.
“We want to catch the suspect, but it has to be the right suspect,” said Houston Police Chief Martha Montalvo told KHOU-TV.
Josue was attacked at about 4:45 p.m. in the 1900 block of Fulton Street, police said. The suspect, later identified by investigators as Calhoun, ran from the scene after the attack. Josue was rushed to the hospital, but later died from his injuries, according to police.
Calhoun was arrested by a U.S. Marshals fugitive task force a day after the stabbing, authorities said. He remains in custody on assault and evading arrest charges stemming from an unrelated fight with police that occurred the day before the stabbing, police say.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Police Say Calhoun Was in Another Part of Texas When the ‘Unprovoked’ Attack Occurred
Che Calhoun. (Facebook)
The fatal attack on Josue Flores as he walked home from school alone was “unprovoked,” Houston Police Sergeant Tommy Ruland told CBS News.
There are no new suspects in custody.
Witnesses had told police they saw a man struggling with Josue before the boy collapsed to the ground and ran off. Josue had been stabbed multiple times, police said.
Josue’s family told KHOU-TV that the boy wasn’t carrying a laptop or cell phone that an attacker may have wanted to steal.
Calhoun’s clothes matched the description of the suspect and an eyewitness picked him out of a photo lineup, police said.
But surveillance video from Mary’s Food Mart in Pearland, Texas, verified Calhoun’s alibi, But according to KHOU-TV.
“We wound up locating several witnesses from his alibi and interviewing them. Then late last night, we recovered physical evidence that showed he was in Pearland and couldn’t have been at the location where the murder occurred,” Houston Police Lieutenant Robert Blain told KHOU.
2. Calhoun Is Homeless & Goes by the Nickname ‘Detroit’
(Facebook)
Che Calhoun is homeless and goes by the nickname “Detroit,” according to police.
He is originally from Detroit, Michigan, his Facebook page shows. He studied at Oakland Community College. He graduated from Murray Wright High School in Detroit.
Calhoun last posted on Facebook on May 13.
His Facebook page lists his relationship status as single, but he says he got engaged in 2015. He is pictured in several photos with his children.
3. Josue Was a 6th-Grader at a Local School & ‘Had a Bright Future’
Josue Flores.
Josue Flores was a sixth-grader at Marshall Middle School in Houston, his family told KTRK-TV.
“He had a bright future. He was very obedient and he was giving,” his mother, Maria Flores, told the news station. “You give him $10, he would buy everyone else something before he bought himself something.”
His sister, Sofia, told KHOU-TV he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up so he could help people, and dreamed of going to college at the University of Houston-Downtown.
“It feels like a person has stabbed me in my heart,” Maria Flores told KTRK.
4. Calhoun Has a History of Mental Illness
(Facebook)
Calhoun has a history of mental illness, police told the Houston Chronicle. But police have not detailed what that history entails.
He has been arrested in the past, and police released a mugshot to identify him, but his record was not immediately available.
5. He Started a GoFundMe Page Last Year With the Name ‘Finally Being Able to Be Father’
(Facebook)
Che Calhoun started a now-deleted GoFundMe page last August titled, “Finally being able to be Father.” The page raised just $45 of the $2,500 goal.
He posted a photo with his daughter on the page.
Calhoun wrote that he needed a vehicle for a new job he was starting. He had found work through Houston Workforce Development at Marek Brothers.‘
He wrote a lengthy message about changing his life by finding work and helping his children:
I grew up blinded by drugs , hitting women and doing negative to get revenue. The working man was a ghost in my neighborhood. Most importantly, in my household. Women were the strength of our family. All the men were negative in some type of way. I was mislead and guided to make the mistakes i made as a younger man. I was set up for failure. I had no idea to how messed up i was until i had children and had to work. I couldnt never maintain employment or stability. I was raised that the risk takers get the bigg bucks. Nothings wrong with risk tak ing, they just had me doing it with the street things. Then i moved to the south and seen that the working man exists and is not criticized for doing so! Everytime, back home, when a wall was faced before me all i knew was sell drugs scheme or steal. They were totally ruining my future. Come to find out they were having me with a mentality so messed up that i was closing doors that i never seen open. Sadly, i seen doors that the average anybody could, or should have open being closed to my children!!! I was hurt, i cried and i felt betrayed and used!! But what cpuld i do? Nothing but continue to stay doing right and try, try, until i can make it, or die trying. I had to save my kids from the trap and do not let them be denied opportunity due to my negative influences. I always knew that there had to ne a better way than this. Everyday discouragement had me thinking of giving up. But how can i do that and call myself and i got lil men to raise. I had to get to the mainstream of life. The hardworking man i had to be, wanted to be, couldnt wait to be.. I wont feel like im working rather i would be sponging. I wanna soak up all the knowledge i can get from hardworking men and share so.ething worth way more than money to my kids. Morals and ethics they must have, i had to find away to change my image.
“Now i have an opportunity to be a FATHER for once, and this is my last shot, I HAVE NO MORE MISTAKES OR CHANCES.!,” he wrote
