A man charged with capital murder six years ago is now free after the Escambia County district attorney dropped the capital murder charge last week, just days before the suspect was finally due to go on trial.

On April 26, 2017, 20-year-old Donta Russell was shot while driving his vehicle along an Atmore street just after 10 p.m. Reports at the time indicated Russell was also shot several times after his vehicle crashed into a tree.

Three months later, Yeldon Devanta Rostchild and Darrell Octavius Brown were indicted on capital murder charges in Russell’s killing. At the time, prosecutors indicated they were going to seek the death penalty, according to court records.

Rostchild had been incarcerated since then, until Wednesday when he was released after Escambia County District Attorney Stephen Billy dropped the capital murder case against Rostchild, instead charging him with obstruction of justice.

Rostchild entered a guilty plea to the obstruction charge and was sentenced to time served, court documents show.

AL.com contacted Billy’s office Thursday seeking comment, but the call had not been returned by late Friday afternoon.

Billy told WPMI, however, the age of the case had “weakened” the evidence.

“Anytime a case is this old the evidence tends to weaken and that was the case here,” Billy told the outlet.

Both WPMI and Rostchild’s attorney said Rostchild had been in prison for the past six years awaiting trial, with the attorney, Christine Hernandez, suggesting Rostchild’s rights had been violated.

According to both court records and the Alabama Department of Corrections, however, less than a month after Rostchild was incarcerated in Escambia County Jail on the capital murder charge, he was accused of and pleaded guilty to promoting prison contraband, specifically a cell phone and charger.

He was sentenced to 10 years on the contraband charge — a sentence from which he was not released until March 19, 2021 — the same day jail records show he was returned to the custody of Escambia County to await his capital murder trial.

Mobile Metro Jail records also show Rostchild was in custody there in both February and October of 2022, although there doesn’t appear to be an explanation as to why Rostchild was being held there.

Darrell Brown is due to go on trial for Donta Russell’s murder on June 10. It’s unknown whether prosecutors intend to call Rostchild as a witness.