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More evidence being gathered in deadly Harding Street raid, private investigation findings released

By FOX 26 Houston staff
Published  July 25, 2019 5:43pm CDT
News
FOX 26 Houston

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - More evidence is being gathered in the investigation into the January no-knock drug raid on Harding Street that left two people dead and five Houston police officers wounded.

On Wednesday, investigators with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office and Texas Rangers returned to the southeast Houston home to gather more evidence.

We also learned from the police officers' union that two officers appeared before a federal grand jury on Wednesday. We’re told by HPOU that those two officers responded to a 911 call at the home weeks before the fatal raid in January.

Their testimony lasted two to three hours, according to HPOU.

The families of the victims in the Harding Street Drug Raid revealed on Thursday the findings of a private investigation into the deaths of Rhogena Nicholas and Dennis Tuttle.
This information is included in their petition for depositions to investigate claims.

The first preliminary finding states that Rhogena Nicholas was fatally struck by a bullet from a weapon fired outside the Harding Street Home by a person shooting from a position where the shooter could not have seen Ms. Nicholas at the time she was fatally shot, according to ballistics analysis and DNA recovery.

The second preliminary finding states that an unidentified person held a weapon against the inner dining room wall and fired two shots into the inner dining room wall towards the kitchen (or within 2-3 inches of the inner dining room wall, as confirmed by lab testing of swab samples, approximately 21 feet from the front door and 14 feet from where Dennis Tuttle was recovered).

Cell phone video recovered from a neighbor in March contradicts an earlier claim that the gunfight ended almost as soon as it started, revealing two lone gunshots approximately 30 minutes after the assault ended. Minutes later, police on the scene reportedly said “both suspects down”.

Almost another hour later, police on the scene began “negotiating” with the Harding Street Home.

The Nicholas Family respectfully request an order authorizing the oral depositions of the following:

  • Representative from City or Police Department
  • Lt. Marsha Todd
  • Capt. Paul Q. Follis

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg released the following statement on Thursday regarding recent developments in the investigation:

We will get to the truth, and while we welcome any information about the incident that unfolded on Harding Street, we caution everyone to wait for all the evidence to be brought forth before making a decision about what happened that day and who is responsible.

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