A Texas Ranger testified that Houston Police Department officers fired the first shot within 18 seconds of the raid on Harding Street.
On the day of the botched Harding Street raid, Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas’ dog, Star, was shot dead just 18 seconds after narcotics officers arrived on the scene. This detail emerged during the seventh day of the murder trial for former Houston police officer Gerald Goines.
After a Houston homicide detective concluded three days of testimony, prosecutors brought Texas Ranger Jeff Wolf to the stand. The District Attorney’s office had enlisted him to reconstruct the events of the ill-fated raid.
In his testimony, Wolf provided jurors with a detailed walkthrough of the events that transpired on Harding Street on January 28, 2019. Using the layout of the home, 3D renderings, and footage from body-worn and surveillance cameras, he established a timeline of the shooting.
According to Wolf, the sequence of events began when the first narcotics officer arrived at 5:27 p.m. Just 18 seconds later, the front door of 7815 Harding Street was breached, and the first shot was fired. Wolf identified Officer Lovings as the one who fired the initial shot, which hit the couple’s dog, Star. Subsequent shots struck Nicholas, who died on the couch. Tuttle, emerging from a bedroom, managed to fire up to four shots before being killed.
Wolf emphasized that the majority of the shots—at least 40 rounds—were fired by officers from the Houston Police Department, with all but two shots occurring within the first minute and 22 seconds of the incident.
Jurors were noted to be highly attentive, taking detailed notes during the testimony. Wolf’s cross-examination by the defense team for Goines is set to continue on Wednesday. Both prosecutors and defense attorneys anticipate concluding the case within a few days.
