Levy Nelson faces aggravated murder and other charges after Zion and Sadie Terry were fatally shot and their mother survived.

RICHMOND, Va. — A Richmond man accused of killing two teenage siblings, including his 14-year-old daughter, and shooting their mother has been found competent to stand trial, moving a closely watched homicide case toward an April 2027 jury proceeding.

Levy Nelson, 41, is scheduled for trial April 19, 2027, in Richmond Circuit Court after the results of a competency evaluation were returned to court in August. Nelson is charged in connection with the April 21 shootings of 18-year-old Zion Terry, 14-year-old Sadie Terry and their mother, Tiffany Terry, at a home in Richmond’s Highland Park neighborhood. Police have said Sadie was Nelson’s daughter and that Nelson had been in a relationship with Tiffany Terry. Zion died at the scene, while Sadie died from her injuries three days later. Their mother survived.

The competency finding does not determine whether Nelson committed the crimes alleged against him. It addresses whether he is able to understand the proceedings and assist in his defense, allowing the prosecution to continue toward trial. Nelson has been indicted on serious felony counts that include aggravated murder involving multiple victims, aggravated malicious wounding, firearm offenses, child abuse and a charge alleging that he possessed a weapon as a convicted violent felon. The accusations remain allegations unless proved in court. Authorities have not publicly established a motive for the shootings, and available reports do not describe what immediately preceded the gunfire in enough detail to explain why the family was attacked.

The case began shortly before 10 a.m. April 21, when Richmond police were called to the home near Burns Street and 5th Avenue. Authorities have said one of the victims made the 911 call. When officers and investigators arrived, they found one victim inside the foyer and evidence of gunfire in the house, according to information later disclosed in a search warrant. Zion was pronounced dead after the shooting. Tiffany and Sadie were taken for medical treatment. Tiffany survived, but Sadie died April 24, adding a second homicide to an investigation that had initially begun with one death and two wounded victims.

Nelson was no longer at the home when police arrived, prompting authorities to search for him and a vehicle connected to him. He was arrested in neighboring Henrico County later that day. His first charges included malicious wounding and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony. The legal case expanded after investigators continued working the shooting and after Sadie died. A Richmond grand jury later returned a broader set of charges, including aggravated murder. Two counts that had remained in juvenile and domestic relations court were dismissed in May because equivalent charges already were pending in circuit court, according to local court reporting. The dismissals did not end the prosecution or remove the principal homicide allegations.

Court records described in local reporting also offered a limited look at the physical evidence investigators collected from the Highland Park house. A search warrant inventory listed cartridge cases, bullets, a firearm, DNA swabs, a knife, a phone and other items taken from the scene. The existence of those items does not by itself establish how prosecutors will use them at trial, and authorities have not publicly laid out their full evidentiary case. The warrant nonetheless shows that detectives conducted a detailed examination of the home in the days after the shooting as they worked to document the sequence of events and determine what evidence could be relevant to the deaths and Tiffany Terry’s injuries.

Richmond police have listed Zion’s death and the death of a juvenile female on April 21 among the city’s 2026 homicide cases at the 3100 block of 5th Avenue. Police Chief Rick Edwards has said officers had not previously responded to the residence for a domestic violence incident, according to local reporting. That fact leaves an important distinction in the public record: authorities have described the April shootings as domestic in nature, but a prior police response at that address has not been identified. Investigators also have not publicly announced a verified account of the argument or circumstances that immediately led to the shooting, and no motive should be inferred from the relationships among the people in the home.

The deaths reached far beyond the criminal investigation because both teenagers were students whose schools were preparing for milestones at the end of the academic year. Zion was a senior at John Marshall High School, where school officials said he carried a 4.4 GPA and was on track to graduate near the top of his class. He had been accepted to Winston-Salem State University and planned to study nursing. His obituary listed his involvement with the school’s track team, the National Honor Society and an HBCU college-preparation program. Days after his death, classmates honored him as prom king, a recognition that came only weeks before the graduation he had been preparing to attend.

Sadie was an eighth grader at Thomas H. Henderson Middle School. Her principal, Allen Vernon, said she regularly greeted him at the school entrance and had become part of the daily life of the building. She served as a peer mentor to younger girls and was remembered by school staff for her interest in art, writing and colorful fashion. Family accounts said she hoped eventually to become an engineer in the military. Inside the middle school after her death, messages honoring Sadie and her brother appeared as classmates and staff tried to process the sudden loss. School officials described both siblings in terms of their relationships with other students rather than only as victims of a criminal case.

Their mother has made a similar request. After surviving the shooting, Tiffany Terry spoke publicly about Zion and Sadie and said she wanted people to remember the lives they had lived rather than reduce them to the violence that killed them. She described Zion’s plans to become a nurse and Sadie’s hopes for her future. She also spoke about the reality of having to bury two children after surviving the same shooting. Family members and the Richmond community helped raise money for her recovery and other expenses, while relatives described a family suddenly forced to grieve two young people at once.

A joint funeral for Zion and Sadie was held May 9 at John Marshall High School. Zion’s obituary identified him as the son of Tiffany Terry and Lorenzo White and said he was a devoted older brother. The service came as the criminal prosecution was still developing and before the full indictment against Nelson had settled into circuit court. The contrast between those two tracks has continued through the case: relatives and schools have moved through funerals, graduation remembrances and the beginning of a new academic year, while the court process has advanced at a much slower pace toward a trial set almost a year after the shootings.

The competency ruling was therefore a procedural turning point rather than a resolution. It removed one question about whether the case could move forward but did not answer the factual questions that a trial is expected to address. Prosecutors still must prove the charged offenses beyond a reasonable doubt, while the defense will have an opportunity to challenge the state’s evidence and present its case. Among the issues not publicly resolved are the full sequence of events inside the home, the significance of evidence taken from the scene and what prosecutors contend led to the shootings.

When Nelson returns to Richmond Circuit Court, the prosecution will have to turn the allegations in the indictment into evidence that meets the criminal standard of proof, while his defense can contest the state’s account. The competency ruling settled only whether the case could proceed. It did not determine what happened inside the 5th Avenue home or whether Nelson is criminally responsible. Those questions remain for the proceedings leading to his scheduled April 19, 2027, trial.

Author note: Last updated September 29, 2026.