Calixtro Villarreal’s phone rang Saturday afternoon, about 48 hours after his client, Lizelle Herrera, was arrested and charged with murder — over what local authorities alleged was a “self-induced abortion.”

It was Gocha Ramirez, the district attorney in Starr County, Tex., a remote area on the border with Mexico. Herrera should never have been charged, Ramirez told the lawyer, according to a person familiar with the situation, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private interactions.

The district attorney reiterated that sentiment in a text he sent the next day to an acquaintance. “I’m so sorry,” he wrote in the message, which was reviewed by The Washington Post. “I assure you I never meant to hurt this young lady.”

Ramirez moved to drop all the charges Sunday. He did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Herrera. Villarreal declined to comment multiple times.

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However, interviews with several people in the South Texas community closely following the situation, as well as statements from leaders in the Texas antiabortion movement, suggest this was not part of a broader antiabortion strategy, but instead a hasty error by a first-term Democratic district attorney.

A hospital brought the case to the attention of the sheriff’s office, according to Ramirez’s statement. Rene “Orta” Fuentes, 61, who became sheriff in 2008 after spending nearly three decades in the department, did not respond to a request for comment.