Mourning the Fresno man mistakenly released from jail

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- Fresno police say 37-year-old Bobby Pearson was stabbed to death by his sister's boyfriend Wednesday.

The murder happened near West and Shields avenues. That's also where family members held a vigil Saturday night.

35-year-old Willie Gray is not only the main suspect in Pearson's death, but the boyfriend of Pearson's sister. But at the vigil Saturday, the focus was on Pearson's life, not his murder.

Close relatives of Bobby Pearson lit candles and said a prayer where he was killed just last Wednesday. He had just been released from the Fresno County jail by mistake. A jury made a clerical error during his robbery trial, and he was set free.

"I'm very angry," said Chantell Pearson. "It's like if this hadn't occurred my brother would still be here we would not standing right here doing this. He would still be here."

It was less than an hour after his release that Pearson's body was found. Police believe Pearson was stabbed to death by Willie Gray.

Zmal Lee Pearson says he and his sisters are trying to stay strong. "My dad was a good man. I don't care what anybody says my dad was a good man."

Gray is dating Pearson's sister who was in attendance at the vigil Saturday. Family members told me the main focus of the gathering was to remember Pearson's life and not about discussing events that unfolded Wednesday.

"I miss him and I wish he was still here," said Pearson's niece, Monique Cooper. "I wish none of this would've happened."

Had Pearson been convicted of the robbery charges he faced before being set free, he would've spent a maximum of 15 to 20 years in prison. But instead his suspected killer Willie Gray is in the Fresno County jail and faces a murder charge.