Overview

• Texas prosecutors have dropped murder charges against two people, Nina Marano and Charles Anthony Beltran, in the 2020 fatal stabbing of Marisela Botello-Valadez.
• Marano and Beltran, who were arrested in Cambodia after cutting off their ankle monitors and fleeing the country, still face charges of tampering with evidence connected to Botello-Valadez's death.
• The trial of Lisa Dykes, the third defendant in the case, continues. Dykes is accused of stabbing Botello-Valadez.
• Beltran's inconsistent account of events is believed to have influenced the decision to drop the murder charges against him and Marano.
• The dismissal of charges comes amid renewed scrutiny of the use of ankle monitors in pre-trial release, following a separate incident where a man cut off his ankle monitor and went on a shooting spree, killing six people.