Mother of Rhogena Nicholas wants her daughter's name cleared after botched drug raid

Miya Shay Image
Thursday, March 21, 2019
Family of woman killed in botched drug raid speaks to ABC13
Family of woman killed in botched drug raid wants her name cleared

"I want her name cleared," says Jo Ann Nicholas.

That simple request has haunted the 83-year-old since her daughter Rhogena Nicholas and son-in-law Dennis Tuttle were killed in a botched drug raid on January 28.

Jo Ann Nicholas and her son John spoke to ABC13 Eyewitness News from her small home in Natchitoches, Louisiana. It is the first television interview they have given since raid made national news.

"There are good and bad officers in every department," said the elder Nicholas, who believes the officers involved need to be charged criminally.

Rhogena and her mother talked multiple times a day. On January 28, Rhogena texted her mother a prayer in the morning. In the afternoon, around 4:15, she and her mother talked one last time. It was about buying groceries and the expected cold weather in Louisiana. They hung up thinking they would talk the next day.

An hour later, Rhogena and her husband would be dead. Her mother and brother found out the following morning, when police officers from Louisiana visited their homes.

Eyewitness News Reporter Miya Shay will have a full report on the Nicholas family interviews, only on ABC13 at 6 p.m.

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