An upstate New York judge Wednesday granted Edward Holley's release in accordance with state law after the Orange County district attorney did not set a grand jury evaluation or a preliminary hearing for the suspect accused of killing Megan McDonald in 2003.
New York State Police arrested and charged Holley with second-degree murder last week in the beating death of McDonald, an NYPD detective's daughter, 20 years ago.
"Today was the day that was set for either the grand jury evaluation or a preliminary hearing, and the district attorney's office didn't do either, basically consenting to an ORR," or release on one's own recognizance, Holley's attorney, Paul Weber, told Fox News Digital.
Weber suspects District Attorney David Hoovler neither set a court proceeding nor showed up to a press conference about Holley's arrest last week because his office believes police did not include "enough to prosecute" Holley in their complaint, creating a possible "rift" with the DA's office.
Despite his release on the second-degree murder charge, Holley will remain in custody on an unrelated 2021 drug charge.
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Hoovler's office released a statement April 20 saying NYSP did not consult his office prior to arresting Holley.
"Grand jury presentations on ‘cold’ homicide cases involving complicated fact patterns can rarely be commenced and completed within six days, without prior coordination," Hoovler said. "The family of the victim and the entire community deserve to have homicide cases handled in the best way possible to provide the greatest opportunity for offenders to be held accountable.
"My office will continue to prioritize the investigation and prosecution of the death of Megan McDonald and continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners."
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On the day of his arrest, Holley told reporters outside a police station that he is "definitely not guilty."
"I love Megan with all my heart," a wheelchair-bound Holley, who had a romantic relationship with McDonald before her murder, said while being escorted into a police vehicle, video from WCBS shows.
Two young women standing by another woman who identified herself as Holley's wife shouted, "We love you, Daddy," PIX11 reported.
Holley was paralyzed from the waist down in a 2007 car accident, the outlet reported.
A felony complaint from NYSP filed in Orange County alleges Holley "did knowingly and intentionally cause the death of Megan McDonald by striking her multiple times in the head with a blunt instrument."
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McDonald and Holley had been in a "romantic relationship" that McDonald apparently tried to end just days prior to her murder after a March 14, 2003, party. They got into an argument March 10, 2003, according to the complaint.
Holley also "owed the victim a substantial amount of money that was causing hostility between the two leading up to the homicide," the document states.
Additionally, witnesses saw Holley's purple Honda Civic, described as "the loudest car in town," following McDonald in her white Mercury March 14, the morning of her murder. Authorities found McDonald's vehicle at the Kensington Manor apartment complex parking lot in Wallkill, New York, two days after they discovered her body.
Holley's next hearing is scheduled for May.
