Bond denied for 3rd suspect charged in Galleria-area restaurant shooting deaths

Thursday, September 9, 2021
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The third person arrested in connection with the killings of an off-duty New Orleans police officer and his friend outside a Galleria-area restaurant last month was denied bond and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Khalil Nelson, 19, is the latest to be charged. He faces two counts of capital murder and one count of aggravated robbery.

Nelson and two other men, Anthony Jenkins, 21, and 19-year-old Frederick Jackson, are accused of robbing and killing 43-year-old Dyrin "DJ" Riculfy and his friend, New Orleans detective Everett Briscoe, on Aug. 21 while they dined on the patio at Grotto Restaurant on Westheimer Road.



Briscoe died at the scene. Riculfy died 10 days later in the hospital.

Nelson appeared in court Thursday morning for a preliminary hearing on the capital murder charges.



A judge denied his bond and a $100,000 bond was set for the aggravated robbery case.

"[Nelson] does have the potential to be sentenced to the death penalty on these cases if age permits that option if elected by the elected district attorney," said the judge during his court appearance.

The 19-year-old is expected back in court on Friday, Sept. 10. Court records show that he was out on bond on separate misdemeanor charges at the time of the killings.

Meanwhile, charging documents read in court during Jenkins' previous appearance stated that he identified himself as the getaway driver in the murders.

Jenkins told investigators that Jackson and a third suspect committed the armed robbery that led to the shots.

All three men remain in custody. Jackson and Jenkins were being held without bond due to previous cases.

In the immediate aftermath of the suspects' arrests, Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said Jackson and Jenkins were out on bond at the time of the shooting.

She even speculated that the pair were committing robberies specifically targeted at victims with luxury property to raise bond money for a friend.

Ogg went on to hint at seeking the death penalty in the case.

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