SAN ANTONIO – After law enforcement spent nearly three months searching for the man accused of beating another man to death in a homeless camp, the murder charge against him and two other people has been dismissed.
Edward Hudson, 39, was released from the Bexar County Jail Wednesday after a judge dismissed his murder charge in connection with the death of Rashad Ladson, 30, a jail official confirmed Thursday.
A total of six people -- including Hudson, who was called the “main guy” wanted in connection with the fatal beating -- were arrested for Ladson’s murder.
Edward Grant, 33; Henry Rios, 32; Tremaine Jackson, 31; Rantrail Barnett, 28; and Samuel Morin, 26, were all accused of beating Ladson to death on Oct. 8 in the 4700 block of Rittiman Road, on the city’s Northeast Side.
According to jail records, a judge has already dismissed the murder charges for Grant and Jackson. Hudson now joins them as a free man.
A jail official told KSAT.com that Morin, Barnett and Rios remain in the Bexar County Jail awaiting a court date.
San Antonio police found Ladson dead in what was described as a homeless camp.
According to an arrest affidavit, Ladson showed up to the camp with a gun, entered a shed and tried to rob several men who were inside.
A witness told SAPD investigators that nine people overpowered Ladson and took away his gun.
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The witness said the men then attacked Ladson with wooden boards, the gun they took away, and their fists and feet, according to the affidavit.
The affidavit states that the men then tied Ladson up with duct tape and continued to beat him for about two hours while he was still alive.
Ladson was then struck on the head by a 4x4 wooden board and his body was dragged to a grassy area nearby.
Less than a week after the deadly beating, Grant and Morin were arrested and charged with murder.
Police identified Grant and Hudson as the two primary suspects involved in Ladson’s murder.
In November, Barnett, Rios and Jackson were arrested and also charged with murder.
On Jan. 1, police took Hudson into custody and prosecutors charged him with murder.
According to jail records, Grant was released from jail on March 28 and Jackson was released on Friday.
In October, KSAT contacted Ladson’s mother, Cassandra Pearson, who said her son was trying to buy marijuana, but said he was the one who was robbed.
"They took all of his stuff. When I saw my son on that ground, he had a shirt on (but) they took his pants, his shoes -- they took everything off of him, so who looks like who got robbed?" Pearson said.
Pearson told KSAT she wanted justice not only for her son, but the 10-year-old daughter and 2-year-old son he leaves behind.
KSAT.com has reached out to the Bexar County District Attorney’s Office for comment regarding the three murder charge dismissals and the three others who remain in the Bexar County Jail.