Bellaire pizzeria murder suspect shot employee several times, prosecutors say

BELLAIRE, Texas – The man charged in the deadly shooting at a Bellaire pizzeria appeared before a judge Thursday and new details were released in the case.

Kiara Taylor, 26, is charged with capital murder, and is currently being held without bond.

Prosecutors said Thursday that Taylor shot Reginelli's Pizzeria employee Peter Mielke when he could not open the cash register during a robbery attempt on Feb. 21.

According to court documents, surveillance video shows Taylor ordering Mielke to the cash register. Mielke was shot near the register, and then several more times as Taylor turned and left the restaurant.

Several days after the shooting surveillance video was released to locate the suspect. Prosecutors outlined in court that Taylor's sister told his parole officer that she believed her brother was involved in the shooting. Taylor was picked up by police shortly afterward.

Mielke's mother was in the courtroom as the charges and court documents were read. She wiped away tears and shook her head, as she looked at her son's alleged killer for the first time.

Mielke, 19, was working to help pay for college classes. He graduated from Bellaire High School.

"It wasn’t me, they got the wrong guy. I don’t know nothing about that crime," Taylor told Channel 2 in an exclusive jailhouse interview Wednesday, but his sister is the person who turned him in.
 

His sister, Tarrell, told Channel 2 that she bought the gun that he may have used. She called authorities after seeing the  surveillance video and thought her brother was the culprit.

Her brother disputed that, saying he has never been to Bellaire and doesn't know where the pizzeria is located.

“There are a lot of people who look like me, that’s not me on the video,” he said.

Police arrested Taylor on the night of March 4 on an unrelated charge of possession of a firearm by a felon. He was held by police while investigators found more evidence that tied Taylor to the killing.