SAN ANTONIO — Jarian McGarity said he swallowed his pride before reaching out to KENS 5 about his arrest this year. He wasn't sure anyone would believe a man labeled a murder suspect would get an ear or have any credibility.
"I called yawl out because I was wrongly arrested due to a lot of he say she say that was not true," he said.
"Don't incarcerate people that's not guilty," McGarity says.
San Antonio Police arrested the 42-year-old man and Deundray Thomas on January 6 for the murder of Charles Shelton.
According to an arrest affidavit, Shelton was eating in his vehicle outside of his motel room at the Siegel Suites on New Year's Eve, and it would be his final meal.
The arrest document said two men in a black vehicle ambushed the 42-year-old victim with gunfire. He died. Investigators said a witness identified McGarity and Thomas as the killers.
"Never seen him before," McGarity said.
On paper, McGarity is not the most sympathetic figure. He started selling drugs to support his first child at 16-years-old and went to prison for it. Then, as a felon, he got caught with a weapon, which sent him back to jail. Did he learn his lesson? McGarity went back to serve time on a second drug charge.
"Now, it's a downfall again," he said.
McGarity said he was smoking a cigarette outside when police with guns took him in for Shelton's murder---even as he pleaded innocence.
While the arrest document does not give a motive, it does speak of a witness. For police, who could clearly determine McGarity lived a short distance from the murder scene, this was a wrap. Or was it?
"I made it to the party directly at 8:30, and I did not leave it to 2:00 in the morning," McGarity said.
According to the accused, he was with family and friends to bring in the New Year. He said investigators did not check that out until after he was in jail.
"All you got to do is call the people that was there with me and they can tell you I was there," he said.
Something about the SAPD investigation fell short. The Bexar County District Attorney's Office rejected the case and set the so-called suspects free. Thomas and McGarity had been in the Bexar County Detention Center for 19 days.
McGarity believes SAPD's witness is the least common denominator between him, Thomas, and Shelton. He and Thomas have children by the woman; he said both men retain custody of the kids, and Shelton was her boyfriend, according to McGarity.
San Antonio police would only say the investigation into Shelton's killing is still active.
The Bexar County DA's office said it could not get into specifics about the case.
In a statement, the office said, "When a case is rejected for further investigation, it means that additional evidence or investigation from law enforcement is required before we can go forward with filing charges."
The criminal fallout from the case raises the question police had the night of December 31: Who killed Charles Shelton?
The day-to-day outcome, McGarity said, is embarrassing and hurtful. His previous convictions were not an issue when getting a place to stay. But the murder charge comes up when prospective landlords run a background check. So, since January 25, the day McGarity got out of jail, he's been living in his Maroon Impala.
"Nobody would help me due to this on my record," he said. "It's like, what more can they do to a person if you are already down."
His fiance and son, who lived with him before his arrest, stay with family members. But McGarity does not. He parks his car in different spots.
"Nobody wanted drama at their house," he said. "People is willing to help you, but don't want that at their house. Nobody."
Weekly hotels would eat into his fixed income, he said. Plus, he said it could overextend his budget in the remote chance someone would have grace and allow him to rent.