A murder charge was dropped on Sept. 22 against a man involving the shooting death of his mother on Sept. 13 in Pacific Beach and he was released from jail.

Daniel Caldera, 27, appeared Thursday before a San Diego Superior Court judge in a brief hearing only to have the murder charge involving the death of his mother, Mary Garcia, 65, dismissed against him.

The dismissal was a motion by the District Attorney’s office, but there was no specific explanation as to the reason.

“The case was dismissed this morning due to ongoing investigation,” said Deputy District Attorney Paige Woodward in an email. “There is no future date at this time.”

“Mr. Caldera was released from custody,” said public affairs officer Tanya Sierra, from the District Attorney’s office.

“The investigation is ongoing and we cannot give further comment at this time,” said Sierra in an email.

A reporter checked with the jail at 4 p.m. Thursday and Caldera had already been released. It is possible the murder charge could be refiled against Caldera.

There was no motive given in the shooting by Woodward at the Sept. 15 arraignment and no details of the case were shared in court at that time.

Stephen Cline, an attorney who only appeared for Caldera at his arraignment, said “he has a psychiatric history” and told the judge Caldera was unable to receive psychiatric medications since his arrest. The judge said she would look into that.

Police responded to a call at 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 13 of an injured woman on the beach near 700 Reed Avenue. Officers found bystanders rendering aid. She had one gunshot wound to her upper body.

Officers took over lifesaving measures until paramedics arrived and she was taken to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

At the time, police said they did not know if it was an accidental shooting or even a suicide. However, 11 hours later, they arrested Caldera in the 4400 block of Mission Boulevard.

No one has officially said if a firearm was recovered.