A charge of voluntary manslaughter against Corey Stoddard was dismissed Tuesday when Judge Russell Canan granted prosecutors’ request to dismiss the case without prejudice.
Spokesperson William Miller said that the U.S. Attorney’s Office found “insufficient evidence to go forward at this time.”
Stoddard was arrested in January on suspicion of second-degree murder connection with the death of 19-year-old Kevin Lewis Crouch. He was released in March on his personal promise to return to court.
Miller said the US Attorney’s Offices’ investigation into Crouch’s death is ongoing.
On Dec. 31, 2014, police found Crouch suffering from significant trauma on the sidewalk in 1300 block of Kenilworth Avenue Northeast. He was transported to a local hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.
According to charging documents, police believe Stoddard drove a tow truck over Crouch after Crouch attempted to rob people with a handgun at the tow truck yard where he worked.
Stoddard told police that Crouch pulled a dark handgun from his clothes and stated he was going to rob Stoddard and another person.
Both Stoddard and the other person immediately turned and ran, charging documents say. But when Stoddard slipped and fell, Crouch ran up to him and struck him twice on the head with the gun, according to Stoddard.
Prosecutors alleged that Stoddard then drove on to the sidewalk of Kenilworth Avenue Northeast and ran over Crouch in an effort to retrieve his wallet. Police found Crouch without a jacket and without pants after he had been dragged approximately 100 feet.
