Zion Terry was preparing for college and Sadie Terry for high school when both were killed in their Highland Park home.
RICHMOND, Va. — At two Richmond schools, the lives of Zion and Sadie Terry are remembered through the milestones they were supposed to reach: a high school graduation, the start of college and an eighth grader’s move toward her freshman year.
Those plans ended after a shooting inside the siblings’ Highland Park home on April 21. Zion, 18, died that day. Sadie, 14, died from her injuries April 24. Their mother, Tiffany Terry, was also shot but survived. Police accuse Levy Nelson, 41, who had been in a relationship with Tiffany and was Sadie’s father, of shooting all three. Nelson has been indicted on aggravated murder and other felony charges and was found competent to stand trial in August. His trial is scheduled for April 19, 2027, in Richmond Circuit Court. The charges remain allegations, and no court has found him guilty.
Before the case became a homicide prosecution, Zion was known at John Marshall High School for a record that pointed toward a life beyond Richmond. Principal Monica Murray said he had set a high academic goal early in high school and followed through on it. School officials said he carried a 4.4 GPA and was on course to graduate near the top of his class. He participated in track, the National Honor Society and college-preparation activities. He had plans to attend Winston-Salem State University and study nursing, with relatives and school officials describing a young man who wanted a career helping other people. He was also weeks away from graduation when he was killed.
Sadie had her own place in the daily rhythm of Thomas H. Henderson Middle School. Principal Allen Vernon remembered her meeting him at the door in the morning, a routine he said had continued for two years. She served as a peer mentor to younger girls and was described as interested in art, writing, bright clothes and self-expression. Family members said she hoped to pursue engineering and had talked about a future in the military. At 14, she was preparing to leave middle school and enter high school, where her older brother had already built the academic reputation teachers and classmates were celebrating.
The connection between the siblings became part of the way their schools mourned them. After the shooting, messages for both teenagers appeared at Henderson Middle School. At John Marshall, Zion’s classmates honored him as prom king after his death. School officials also planned to recognize him at graduation and present his diploma to his family. Their joint funeral was held May 9 at John Marshall High School, placing the family’s loss inside the same building where Zion had spent years preparing for his next step. Their obituaries described Zion as a loving older brother and Sadie as a vibrant younger sister who was excited about following him into high school.
Their cousin, Ainsley Terry, described the siblings as part of the family’s next generation and struggled publicly with the question of why they had been killed. That question has not been answered by investigators in the public record. Police have not announced a confirmed motive. Reports have described the shooting as a domestic violence incident, but Richmond Police Chief Rick Edwards said officers had not previously been called to the home for domestic violence. Authorities also have not released a complete account of what happened immediately before the gunfire. The absence of a publicly established motive is significant because the family relationships alone do not explain the violence and should not be used to supply an answer investigators have not provided.
Tiffany Terry has spoken about her children from the perspective of a mother who survived the same attack. She said she did not want Zion and Sadie remembered only as a tragedy. In interviews after leaving immediate danger, she talked about Zion’s academic success, Sadie’s personality and the futures they had described to her. She also expressed gratitude for the support the family received after the shootings. Donations collected for the family rose into the tens of thousands of dollars as Richmond residents, classmates and others responded to the deaths and to Tiffany’s recovery.
The criminal investigation developed alongside that public mourning. Police were called shortly before 10 a.m. April 21 to the home near Burns Street and 5th Avenue. Officials have said one of the victims called 911. A search warrant later described investigators finding one victim inside the foyer along with visible indications of gunfire. Zion died at the scene. Tiffany and Sadie were hospitalized. Three days later, Sadie’s death changed the scope of the case again, leaving police investigating the deaths of both children as well as the shooting that Tiffany survived.
Nelson was not at the house when officers arrived. Police searched for him and later arrested him in Henrico County. Authorities initially charged him with malicious wounding and a firearm offense. As the investigation continued and prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury, the allegations became more extensive. Nelson was indicted on counts including aggravated murder involving multiple people, aggravated malicious wounding, firearm offenses, child abuse and possession of a weapon as a convicted violent felon. Two charges in a lower court were later dismissed because equivalent counts were already pending in Richmond Circuit Court, preventing duplicate prosecution in two courts rather than eliminating the underlying allegations.
A search of the home also produced evidence that could become relevant when the case reaches trial. A warrant inventory described cartridge cases, bullets, a firearm, DNA swabs, a phone, a knife and other items collected by investigators. Publicly available records do not show how prosecutors intend to connect each item to a specific charge, and the inventory alone does not establish what happened. At trial, prosecutors would have to present admissible evidence supporting their allegations, while the defense would have the opportunity to challenge that evidence and offer its own account. The state carries the burden of proving the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.
The next major development came months after the shootings, when a competency evaluation of Nelson was returned in Richmond Circuit Court. He was found competent to proceed, clearing a procedural obstacle and allowing the case to remain on track for trial. A competency determination is not a finding of guilt and does not decide whether the allegations are true. It concerns a defendant’s present ability to understand the criminal proceedings and participate in a defense. The result leaves the core factual dispute for the trial scheduled in 2027.
For the schools that knew Zion and Sadie, however, the most immediate changes happened long before any courtroom could resolve the case. John Marshall finished a school year without a senior who had expected to walk across its graduation stage. Henderson moved toward another academic year without the student who had become known for greeting her principal and mentoring younger classmates. The criminal prosecution will focus on evidence, legal standards and the charges against Nelson. The memories offered by their schools have centered on what the siblings did before April 21 and what they expected to do next.
By the time the case reaches its scheduled April 19, 2027, trial, the school year Zion and Sadie never finished will be long past. John Marshall High School has already marked a graduation without the senior who planned to study nursing, while Henderson Middle School has moved forward without the eighth grader remembered for mentoring younger students. Whatever the court ultimately determines about the charges against Nelson, the siblings’ schools have already had to account for two places left permanently empty.
Author note: Last updated September 29, 2026.