OMB Bloodbath Found Guilty at Retrial in 2017 Houston Murder Case

By the time a jury in Houston returned its verdict on Monday, Aug. 3, the case against OMB Bloodbath had already been shaped by months of recorded calls, text messages and social media messages, plus a second round of testimony after the first trial ended in a mistrial in January. The Texas rapper, born Alexandra Nicks, was found guilty at retrial for her role in a 2017 gang-related murder that left 52-year-old Samuel Johnson, an innocent bystander, dead.

Bloodbath and her codefendant, Shaquille Richards, were convicted of using a firearm during a racketeering murder and murder in aid of racketeering. Prosecutors said the pair ordered a gang shooting in Houston that spiraled into Johnson’s killing nine years ago. The second trial, which lasted two weeks before jurors deliberated for several hours, also included evidence from Bloodbath’s cellphone that was not presented in the first proceeding.

That detail appears to have mattered. The added phone evidence was part of what prosecutors used to reinforce the case that Bloodbath and Richards were not peripheral figures but leaders in Houston’s 100% Third Ward (103) Gang, and that they helped organize the attempted shooting of a rival gang member in 2017. Instead, Johnson was the one who died.

“This case is not about shooters,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Zenon-Matos said on the first day of trial, according to the Houston Chronicle. “This case is about power.”

Bloodbath and Richards are scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 4, and both face the possibility of life in prison.

Elsewhere, Bloodbath’s attorney Judith Shields issued a statement to XXL after the verdict, making clear the defense intends to keep fighting.

“We are deeply disappointed by the verdict. We thank the jurors for their time, and we respect their service even as we profoundly disagree with the result.

From the first day of this case, we have said the same thing: in nearly nine years of messages, calls, and videos collected by the government, there is no order, no payment, and no plan connecting Alexandra Nicks to the death of Sam Johnson. We believed that when this trial began. We know it to be true despite the verdict.

This case is not over. Significant legal issues were raised and preserved during this trial — issues concerning the court’s evidentiary rulings, and the sufficiency of the government’s proof on the elements of these charges. We believe those issues have real merit, and we will pursue them fully, through post-trial motions and on appeal.

Our thoughts are also with the family of Sam Johnson, whose loss is real and whom nothing in this case diminishes.

Alexandra Nicks and her family have our unchanged commitment: we will continue to fight for her until she comes home. We will have no further comment while post-trial proceedings are pending.”

XXL has reached out to OMB Bloodbath’s attorney for comment.