The man now charged in the 2016 stabbing death of Sheila Hamner appeared in court Wednesday.
A judge denied bond for Carlos Arellano-Ramirez .
This major break in the case came months after the St. Lucie County Sheriff's Office arrested Hamner’s son.
Despite the murder charge being dropped against Kenneth Hamner, Sheriff Ken Mascara would not say his department made a mistake arresting him initially.
“I understand mistakes are made, but not this many and admit them,” said a frustrated Rick Hamner, Kenny's brother, after a Thursday morning news conference during which the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office did not clear his brother’s name.
“We got some closure finally, up to yesterday this family was ripped apart."
Their brother Kenny was the prime suspect in his own mother's murder more than a year ago. That was until a new suspect's name came to light.
“[Wednesday,] I seen enough, I heard enough to know that he absolutely did not have anything to do with this.”
Wednesday was when a St. Lucie County grand jury indicted 24-year-old Carlos Arellano-Ramirez for the 2016 stabbing death of Sheila Hamner.
It’s a major turn, months after the Sheriff’s Office arrested and accused Kenny Hamner of his mother’s murder.
“It was through this on going investigation work including addition forensic and trace evidence that a connection to a third person began to emerge and present itself consistent with the original description of a Hispanic assailant described by Kenny Hamner,” said Sheriff Ken Mascara at that news conference Thursday.
However, there are still no real answers on why the charges against Kenny were suddenly dropped, two months after his arrest.
And Sheriff Mascara would not admit his office made any mistakes when deputies arrested Kenny.
“We believe that the new evidence supports that yet this third person was there, but initially the physical evidence, the eye witness testimony did not support what Kenny told us on the scene,” said Mascara.
NewsChannel 5’s Alyssa Hyman asked if Kenny Hamner was no longer a suspect. To which the sheriff replied, “I don't want to say anything about Kenny in that regard right now.”
An answer that angered the Hamner family who now believes their own brother was wrongfully accused.
