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 NILES — The suspect in a 2022 Niles homicide has been released from jail after a year incarcerated after the charges were dismissed against him.

Farries Deshawn Maxwell, Jr., 18, of Niles, had been scheduled to go on trial last week in Berrien County Trial Court at the Niles courthouse. He had been charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.

      Maxwell was accused of murder in the second of the three sets of murders occurring in Niles in August-September of 2022. Maxwell is accused of killing Raquon Glenn, the man who police believe killed Maxwell’s father in the first of murders.

      Glenn was shot and killed Sept. 8, 2022 in the 300 block of North Sixth Street near downtown Niles. Glenn was inside his vehicle when he was hit by multiple shots. Glenn was transported to the hospital and died a short time later. An autopsy found that he had three gunshot wounds.

According to the police report, no witnesses initially came forward in the investigation. Police were contacted in late September, 2022 by Maxwell’s girlfriend that she had dropped him off that day in the area where Glenn was shot and later picked him up in Niles.

She said Maxwell had told her that he believed Glenn was responsible for Maxwell’s father’s death. Farries Maxwell, Sr., was shot and killed Aug. 16, 2022 in the same area of Niles. She said the younger Maxwell told her “I shot the dude” when she picked him up in Niles.

Berrien County Prosecutor Amy Byrd said this week that the charges were dismissed after Assistant Prosecutor Jerry Vigansky had concerns about a couple of the witnesses scheduled to testify against Maxwell. The charges were dismissed without prejudice so they can be refiled in the future if more information and witnesses are found.

She noted cases are often dependent on the testimony of witnesses and their willingness to come forward.

“While our dedicated law enforcement officers are committed to the investigation of these matters, such investigations rely on the cooperation of witnesses and members of the public coming forward with any information that could assist in bringing the investigation to a swift and just conclusion,” she said.

The last of the homicides occurring during that time period, on Sept. 20, 2022, resulted in the deaths of two girls, Yasmeen Scott and Demi Galvin, and injuries to three young men.  A person of interest identified in that incident is currently in an Indiana prison for a separate murder.