Calgary Stampeder Mylan Hicks's accused killer Nelson Lugela appears in court
The sister of the man accused of killing Calgary Stampeders player Mylan Hicks last weekend says her brother claims to be innocent.
"I don't believe that he did it at all," said Nelson Lugela's sister, Flora Lugella, who spells her name differently from her brother. "He is really scared and he is like, 'I don't want to be in for something I didn't do.'
"This is really dangerous; he is really afraid."
Hicks, 23, was shot to death outside the Marquee nightclub in the city's southwest.
Lugela, 19, was charged Monday with second-degree murder and made his first court appearance over CCTV on Friday.
Defence lawyer Hubert Gawley is based in Vancouver and says he does plan to try to get his client out on bail and will travel to Calgary when a hearing is scheduled.
Lugella stood with her parents in the lobby of the Calgary Courts Centre, defending her brother. She says he has told her that some of his friends were having an argument at the nightclub with members of the CFL's Stampeders.
"He didn't care. He went to the bathroom and found the security," said Lugella. "Then he came in and found the people pushing the guy off, and they tried to figure out what happened."
Hicks, a Michigan State Spartan defensive back from 2011 to 2014, was on Calgary's practice roster and had yet to appear in a game this season.
His parents, who arrived in Calgary from Detroit on Wednesday, were not at court, although his mother, Renee Hill, previously told CBC News that her son was not part of the fight at the nightclub and actually tried to act as peacemaker.
Hill said she thanked God when her son moved from the U.S. to play pro football in Canada because he had left "all the nonsense that went on" in Detroit for a "safer place."
Police have located a firearm and a vehicle, and are working to determine if they are related as the investigation continues.
Lugella says it has been a difficult week for her family, which includes seven siblings.
"Our last name being out there — it looks like we have a terrible family," she said. "I will support my brother if I have to work three jobs, four jobs, I want the truth to be out there."
Flora says when her brother is often crying when he calls from the Calgary Remand Centre, and he has told his family he didn't do it.
She says she feels badly for Hicks's family.
"I'm sorry for their loss," said Lugella.
Her brother has a lawyer based in Vancouver, so Matt Deshaye appeared as agent in court on Friday alongside prosecutor Jonathan Hak. The case was put over to Nov. 4.
