Turkey Leg Hut Co-Founder Nakia Holmes Won’t Face Charges In Kidnapping Case
It’s been a rough few years for Nakia Holmes. Well, for once, things are actually looking up. On April 10, a Harris County grand jury returned a no-bill in the […] The post Turkey Leg Hut Co-Founder Nakia Holmes Won’t Face Charges In Kidnapping Case appeared first on Essence.
Black News 
By Kimberly Wilson ·Updated April 13, 2026 < /> Getting your Trinity Audio player ready… It’s been a rough few years for Nakia Holmes.
Well, for once, things are actually looking up.
On April 10, a Harris County grand jury returned a no-bill in the criminal case against the Turkey Leg Hut co-founder, declining to indict her after finding insufficient evidence. The case is now closed, with no charges filed.
As ESSENCE previously reported, Holmes was arrested in October 2025 on a felony charge of hindering apprehension. Authorities alleged she allowed Johnathan Saizon, a 36-year-old man wanted in connection with an aggravated kidnapping and assault, to stay at her Cypress-area home while evading police. Investigators said officers spotted Saizon near the property and that Holmes initially denied his presence. Saizon stood accused of kidnapping his ex-girlfriend, assaulting her with a tire iron and holding her against her will for several hours. Holmes was not accused of any involvement in those acts, only of shielding him from law enforcement.
Holmes released a statement the day of the ruling. “This outcome confirms what I have maintained from the beginning,” she said. “I complied, provided the requested documentation, and trusted that a full and fair review would lead to the truth.” On social media she wrote, “No indictment. No charges. No case.” She has also said she is weighing further legal action following the investigation, though no specifics have been made public.
The no-bill is the first unambiguous piece of good news for Holmes in a stretch that has been, by any measure, relentless. ESSENCE chronicled the rise and collapse of Turkey Leg Hut, the Houston restaurant she and her ex-husband Lyndell “Lynn” Price built from a 2015 rodeo pop-up into one of the city’s most talked-about dining destinations. In an exclusive interview with ESSENCE, she spoke publicly for the first time about the bankruptcy, the closure, and years of personal fallout she attributed largely to Price.
When Price was arrested last spring on federal arson charges connected to the 2020 firebombing of neighboring bar Bar 5015, Holmes told us, “I want to make it clear that my primary focus remains on protecting my peace, my children, and our healing journey.”
She is not a defendant in that federal case, but Price, who has since faced additional firearms charges in a superseding indictment, remains in federal custody.
What comes next for the brand is still an open question, though Holmes has been offering clues. In March she posted a reel showing branded trucks and equipment in storage, with a caption that read more like a promise than a farewell. Nothing has been confirmed, however, and there was no location or date attached to it.
It echoes what she told ESSENCE last spring, “My focus now is on my family, my businesses, and continuing to build.”
The post Turkey Leg Hut Co-Founder Nakia Holmes Won’t Face Charges In Kidnapping Case appeared first on Essence.
