{"id":462569,"date":"2026-10-11T00:48:12","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T00:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/462569\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T00:48:12","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T00:48:12","slug":"houston-area-family-honors-17-year-old-killed-in-mcdonalds-stabbing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/462569\/","title":{"rendered":"Houston-area family honors 17-year-old killed in McDonald\u2019s stabbing"},"content":{"rendered":"

Family and friends gathered to honor 17-year-old Reginald \u201cRJ\u201d Harrell after he was fatally stabbed while working at a McDonald\u2019s. <\/p>\n

HOUSTON \u2014 Family and friends gathered to honor 17-year-old Reginald \u201cRJ\u201d Harrell after he was fatally stabbed while working at a McDonald\u2019s at the intersection of Grant and Louetta earlier this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A 16-year-old involved in the incident has been charged with murder, according to police. The gathering brought together more than a dozen people who are struggling to understand the loss of a teenager remembered as a loving son and brother.<\/p>\n


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The memorial included a balloon release featuring RJ\u2019s favorite colors. As the balloons rose into the sky, family and friends came together to remember his life and support one another through their grief.<\/p>\n

For RJ\u2019s mother, Denisha Dennis, the loss of her only son remains difficult to process.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very difficult. I can\u2019t even process this information,\u201d Dennis said.<\/p>\n

Dennis said her son had been called in to work on his day off. Police say a co-worker stabbed him, leaving him lifeless in the bathroom. The killing has left his family trying to make sense of a tragedy that has changed their lives.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Teen killed at Houston-area McDonald’s was working on his day off, family says<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cHe was left in the bathroom lifeless,\u201d Dennis said.<\/p>\n

Despite the circumstances surrounding his death, those gathered for the memorial focused on remembering the person RJ was to the people who loved him. His sister, Kourtnee Dennis, described him as someone who kept to himself but cared deeply for those close to him.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brother stayed to himself. Looked out for who he loved. He would give you my last if he loved you,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

For his mother, the memories also bring the painful realization that she will never again be able to hug or hold her son.<\/p>\n

Dennis reflected on the difference between having a child who is still alive and being left to visit a grave, knowing that her son can no longer speak to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey still have a chance to see the child. I can visit a grave, and my son doesn\u2019t talk back to me,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As family and friends gathered, the balloon release offered a moment to honor RJ and remember the life he had ahead of him.<\/p>\n

The gathering ended with a message of love for the teenager, whose death has left his family and friends grieving a life cut short.<\/p>\n

Got a news tip or story idea? Email us at newstips@khou.com or call 713-521-4310 and include your name and the best way to reach you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Family and friends gathered to honor 17-year-old Reginald \u201cRJ\u201d Harrell after he was fatally stabbed while working at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":462570,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[56,58,57],"class_list":["post-462569","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462569","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=462569"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/462569\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/462570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=462569"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=462569"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=462569"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}