A federal jury has convicted the last of six members of the violent 103 street gang charged for ordering a retaliatory shooting that ended the life of an innocent bystander.
Shaquille Richards, 32, and Alexandra Nicks, 32, both of Houston, were convicted of using a firearm to kill during a racketeering murder and murder in aid of racketeering.
“The gang war that these defendants engaged in plagued Houston’s Third Ward community for years,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “Based on yesterday’s convictions, these violent criminals are facing long prison sentences that will keep them off the streets of Houston and hold them accountable for the innocent life they took. The Department of Justice has zero tolerance for the scourge and societal ills caused by gang violence. We are aggressively prosecuting violent gang members and continuing to restore law and order to America’s cities.”
“These gangbangers turned a Houston neighborhood into a battlefield, ordering killers to hunt down and murder their rivals, and an innocent man paid for their violence with his life,” said U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz for the Southern District of Texas. “If you wage war on our streets, terrorize our communities, and put innocent Texans in the crosshairs, my office will come for you. We will dismantle violent gangs, prosecute the criminals who lead them, and put them behind bars where they belong. Houston’s neighborhoods belong to law-abiding citizens, not to violent gangs.”
“The convictions of these two local career gang members are exactly the kind of results we hoped for when the Department of Justice launched the Violent Crimes Initiative in Houston,” said Special Agent in Charge Jason Hudson of the FBI Houston Field Office. “Too often, turf wars between violent neighborhood gangs claim innocent victims. When we leverage our federal resources and law enforcement partnerships, we not only double down on the war against violent crime happening on our streets and front yards, we also procure justice for entire communities terrorized by these criminals.”
Richards and Nicks were leaders of the violent 103 street gang that was involved in a gang war in the Third Ward with rival gang Young Scott Block, or YSB.
Defendant Nicks, left, displaying 103 gang sign with Defendant Richards making shooting motion.
After numerous murders and shootings between the two gangs, Richards and Nicks ordered lower ranking members and associates of the 103 gang to retaliate by committing a drive by shooting in YSB territory. On Oct. 16, 2017, fellow 103 gang members Deandre Watson, Mertroy Harris, Marcus Christopher, and Marquis Erskin drove to opposing gang territory to find a rival gang member to kill. They were armed with firearms containing numerous rounds of ammunition, including some loaded into 50 and 100-bullet drum magazines.
Watson, Harris, Erskin and Christopher opened fire when they saw a rival gang member on a street corner. The intended target was shot but survived and ran away. A 53 year old non-gang member was standing in the front yard of a residence, was shot and died of his injuries.
The 103 members crashed their car into a ditch as they fled. Watson, Erski, and Christopher then carjacked a woman who had an infant in her vehicle and fled the scene. Harris ran into the neighboring stores and discarded his firearm and clothing but was arrested shortly thereafter.
Jail phone calls, social media postings, and testimony showed that Richards and Nicks ordered the shooting and threatened to oust anyone in the gang who did not go looking for rivals to shoot.
Sentencing is set for Nov. 4. A federal district judge will determine their sentences after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Watson, Harris, Christopher and Erskin have each pleaded guilty and will be sentenced on Sept. 2. All defendants face up to life in prison.
The FBI, The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Houston Police Department investigated the case, with substantial assistance from the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.
Trial Attorney Jodi Anton of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime and Racketeering Section and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly Zenon Matos and Anh-Khoa Tran for the Southern District of Texas prosecuted the case.
This case is part of the Criminal Division’s Violent Crime Initiative to prosecute violent crimes in Houston. The Criminal Division and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas have partnered, along with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies, to confront violent crimes committed by gang members and associates through the enforcement of federal laws and use of federal resources to prosecute the violent offenders and prevent further violence in the Houston area.
