A 22-year-old Howard County man who was charged in a Halloween party shooting in Clarksville that killed one guest and paralyzed another had a murder charge against him dropped Tuesday in Howard County District Court.

An attempted-murder charge against Devin Dixon of Elkridge also was dropped last month.

Howard County State's Attorney Dario Broccolino said "there isn't sufficient evidence to proceed to trial at this time" in trying to prosecute Dixon, who was charged with killing Aaron Brice, 19, of Silver Spring and paralyzing Nathaniel Quick, 22, of Columbia.

Police spokeswoman Sherry Llewellyn said no other warrants have been issued but the investigation remains "very active"

According to police, Brice was shot in the driveway of the house in an upscale neighborhood off Route 108 early Nov. 1. Quick was wounded when a bullet shattered a basement window and hit him in the back, police said.

Dixon was arrested the next day after police, acting on information from witnesses at the party, searched his Elkridge residence. He was also charged with possession of marijuana with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a handgun. Dixon remains in the Howard County detention center on unspecified charges, Llewellyn said.

A probation hearing on the handgun charge, scheduled for today in Howard County Circuit Court, is likely to be postponed, said state's attorney's spokesman Wayne Kirwan. Dixon had been released from prison a few months before the shootings.

Broccolino said that though police charged Dixon and a grand jury later indicted him on murder and attempted murder charges, there are "different standards" needed to get a conviction.

"Once you start to get the case ready for trial, and things don't develop past the probable cause standard, you have to drop the charges if the evidence isn't there to get a conviction," he said. "We're hopeful that a couple of more pieces of evidence can be pulled together to solve the case."