Rally demands justice for couple killed in botched Houston police raid

To mark six months since the botched Houston Police drug raid that killed Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, a group marched demanding justice for the couple.

Just over a dozen people showed up, but that did not discourage Hai Bui, the organizer.

“This is what it takes,” Bui said. “The leaders won’t do anything until we come out.”

The group’s procession ended in front of the home where the couple lived and where they died. Houston Police report the couple engaged in a shootout with officers.

Bui says he formed We the People Organize because of what happened that day. He says the goal is to clear the Tuttle’s names and to end no-knock warrants nationwide.

Most who attended did not know the couple. Janet Heron says she heard about the march on the news. She and her husband attended.

“We felt like we needed to be here because we felt like the Tuttle incident could have easily been us,” Heron told FOX 26.  “We don’t do anything wrong and if somebody came through our front door yelling police, we would assume they were intruders, and we would be shooting.”

However, Esmeralda Martinez did know the couple. She says she’s lived two houses down from their home on Harding Street for 15 years.

She says she was their neighbor 15 years.

“She was like a sister,” Martinez said fighting back tears. She says the day of the shooting, she was getting ready to head over to see Nicholas.

On Thursday, during a press conference, Nicholas' brother says his mother is 85 years old and hopes to see her daughter’s name cleared before she dies.

Those here are saying they’re determined make that happen.

“I’m praying for justice to be served tomorrow,” Heron concluded.

Earlier this week, in response to the findings of the independent investigator working with Nicholas family, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a statement:

"We have completed our criminal investigation and are fully cooperating and working collaboratively with the FBI and Harris County District Attorney’s Office as they conduct separate independent investigations.

The matter is now the hands of the District Attorney, the FBI, and the United States Attorney’s Office, and further comment would be inappropriate at this time."