OMB Bloodbath Returns to Court in Second Federal Murder Trial Tied to Houston Gang Case

In Houston, the OMB Bloodbath case has moved into a second federal trial, keeping alive one of the city’s more closely watched gang-linked murder prosecutions. The rapper, born Alexandra Nicks, is once again before a jury alongside associate Shaquile Richards, both facing murder in aid of racketeering charges connected to an alleged long-running feud between rival groups.

According to the Houston Chronicle, the retrial was underway Monday, July 20, after jury selection on July 9. It comes seven months after the first federal trial ended without a verdict, leaving prosecutors to try the case again after a mistrial.

Authorities say Bloodbath and Richards were leaders in the 100% Third Ward Gang, also known as the 103 Gang, during a violent dispute that stretched through much of the 2010s. Prosecutors allege the pair helped organize a 2017 shooting aimed at a Young Scott Block member, an attack that instead killed 52-year-old bystander Samuel Johnson.

Neither defendant is accused of being physically present at the shooting. Still, prosecutors argue that texts, jailhouse recordings and other evidence tie them to the planning. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Zenon-Matos told jurors the case “is not about shooters,” but about the alleged structure of power behind the violence.

That distinction mattered in the first trial, where a key witness testified that neither Bloodbath nor Richards ordered the shooting. Their attorneys seized on that point, arguing the government had not proved the pair were responsible for the crime.

Elsewhere, the government has expanded its evidence file. Ahead of the retrial, prosecutors said they were able to access Bloodbath’s previously locked phone after a computer program reportedly cracked the device following four years of attempts. Defense attorneys objected, saying too much new material had been introduced too late, but the judge allowed the retrial to proceed.

Both Bloodbath and Richards have remained in custody since their indictment. If the jury convicts, each faces the possibility of a life sentence in federal prison.