A judge declared a mistrial in the federal RICO murder case of Houston drill rapper and gang leader OMB Bloodbath (born Alexandra Nicks) and her associate Shaquile O’Neal Richards.
Late Tuesday, jury members announced they were deadlocked after two days of deliberations, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Federal prosecutors must decide if they will retry the case or offer Nicks and Richards plea deals.
Nicks and Richards were indicted in 2023 on RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act) charges for directing gang members to kill a gang rival.
Nicks and Richards are both accused of directing four gunmen to kill a member of a rival gang on Oct. 16, 2017. However, they missed the target and killed 53-year-old Sam Johnson, an innocent bystander.
A 22-year-old man, Walter Fields, was also wounded.
After the shooting, three of the gang members snatched a woman and her baby out of a Kia Sedona before fleeing in the stolen minivan.
Before her arrest, Nicks was an up-and-coming rapper with the potential to be a breakout hip-hop star. By 2020 she had signed a record deal with a label affiliated with Interscope Records.
Investigators reviewed jailhouse phone calls between the aspiring drill rapper and members of her “103 Gang” in the Harris County Jail.
In the phone calls, Nicks told another gang leader that she signed a deal with Interscope Records and she would pay the “youngins” to shoot at a rival gang member.
Three of the gunmen were found guilty of Johnson’s murder and sentenced.
Nicks and Richards both face life in prison if they are tried again. They remain in federal custody.
