Round Rock Juneteenth shooting: Suspect will not have bond reduced
Juneteenth shooting: Bond hearing for suspect
A Williamson County judge has denied a request to lower the bond for a teenager facing a mass shooting charge in connection to last year?s Juneteenth celebration.
ROUND ROCK, Texas - One of the suspects in the deadly shooting at a Round Rock Juneteenth celebration is to remain in jail.
What we know:
Ricky Thompson III was charged with aggravated assault mass shooting in connection to the shooting on June 15, 2024.
FOX 7 Austin's CrimeWatch reporter Meredith Aldis reports that Thompson had a contested bond hearing to reduce his $1 million bond.
A Williamson County judge denied the request to lower Thompson's bond on Thursday.
What happened during the hearing?
Eighteen-year-old Thompson walked into the Williamson County courtroom Thursday in an orange jumpsuit.
The district attorney said he and Keshawn Dixon are the main guys involved in last year’s Juneteenth celebration mass shooting.
On Thursday morning, Thompson’s defense attorney was pushing for his bond to be lowered, saying he is a teen who wants to finish school and has a support system that will help him stay on track if he were to get out.
The Williamson County District Attorney was fighting against it.
"We believe it’s a danger to the community to have Ricky Thompson out in the community," Williamson County District Attorney Shawn Dick said.
Thompson’s grandmother testified that before the shooting at Old Settlers Park, her home that Thompson was staying at, was shot up on two different occasions.
"To be clear, there was no shootings from Ricky Thompson or his friends. There was no violence from them. It was one way to them," Ricky Thompson’s attorney Amber Vazquez said.
Thompson’s grandmother said to this day they are still receiving threats.
"If he was released though, do you believe that there would be more shootings directed towards him?" Aldis asked Vazquez.
"I think it’s pretty absurd to say that somebody, a child should be locked in a cage so they don’t get shot. That’s not what bonds, that’s not what jail is for. In fact, you don’t put people in jail to protect them, you put other people in jail that are trying to shoot them," Vazquez replied.
Court records revealed this all started after Thompson and Dixon’s rap groups started feuding with each other.
Thompson’s aunt testified she knew Thompson made music but had never listened or watched his videos. In court, the district attorney told her the videos included stacks of money, profanity, and guns that look like machine guns.
"Is this the boy that you talk to every afternoon?" Dick asked Thompson’s aunt.
"No, it’s not. It’s not at all. I am aware that there is supposedly guns and asked him about it and he said they were props," Thompson’s aunt responded.
"But he had a real gun that he fired at Old Settlers Park at the Juneteenth celebration, right?" Dick said.
"So I’m told," Thompson’s aunt responded.
Round Rock Juneteenth celebration shooting
The backstory:
On June 15, 2024, Round Rock police responded to a shooting at Old Settlers Park at Harrell Parkway in Round Rock.
Two people were killed, and 14 others were injured in the shooting.
Police said the shooting happened during an altercation between two groups at the event. The two people killed were innocent bystanders.
33-year-old Lyndsey Vicknair from Manor and 54-year-old Ara Duke from Pflugerville died in the shooting.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 4 more suspects arrested in Juneteenth shooting
Four more people have been arrested in connection to the deadly Juneteenth celebration in Round Rock last June.
Dig deeper:
A total of seven suspects were arrested in connection to the shooting.
Thompson, 17, of Pflugerville, Keshawn Dixon, 19, of Killeen, and a teen suspect from Pflugerville, were all arrested last year.
In May, U.S. Marshals arrested four more suspects in the case:
- Terrell Hatch, 18, of Pflugerville
- Payton Green, 20, of Pflugerville
- Terren Jackson, 18, of Manor
- Amarjai Terry, 17, of Manor
All four of those suspects face several charges, including engaging in organized criminal activity with conspiracy to commit aggravated assault. Dick told FOX 7 Austin Thursday that there are still people they are looking at that may be connected to this case.
What's next:
Thompson has spent almost 500 days in jail since his arrest.
The judge denied the defense's request for a lower bond. In fact, she added more restrictions in case he does post the million-dollar bond.
Dick told FOX 7 he hopes to take Keshawn Dixon’s case to trial first, hopefully in the new year. He said there are thousands of pieces of digital evidence to go through that takes a while.
The Source: Information in this report comes from FOX 7 Austin's CrimeWatch reporter Meredith Aldis and previous reporting.