Houston gang members face life in prison for deadly retaliation plot that killed bystander

A federal jury has convicted the final two alleged leaders of a gang-retaliation crime in Houston, almost nine years after the attack claimed the life of an innocent bystander.

The six individuals involved in the Oct. 16, 2017, incident are all facing life in prison, the Justice Department announced Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors said Shaquille Richards and Alexandra Nicks, each 32 and Houston residents, directed lower-ranking members of the violent 103 street gang to hunt down members of rival Young Scott Block following a series of escalating shootings and murders between the two.

Four  members of the 103 gang – Marcus Christopher, Marquis Erskin, Mertroy Harris and Deandre Watson – armed themselves with guns loaded with multiple ammunition rounds and drove to YSB's territory with the intent to find and kill a rival gang member.

After spotting one such individual on a street corner, Christopher, Erskin, Harris and Watson opened fire and shot their target, who survived and ran away. A 53-year-old man standing nearby with no connection to either gang was caught in the crossfire and died from his wounds.

“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,” U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz for Texas' southern district said in a statement.

As the four assailants fled the scene, they crashed their car into a ditch. Christopher, Erski and Watson carjacked a woman with an infant in her vehicle while Harris ran into nearby stores, ditching his clothing and firearm in an attempt to disguise himself – but to no avail. Officers found and arrested him shortly afterward.

Jail phone calls, social media posts and testimony presented during trial revealed that Nicks and Richards ordered the shooting and threatened that if any member refused the order to search for rivals to shoot, they’d be expelled from the gang.

“The gang war that these defendants engaged in plagued Houston’s Third Ward community for years,” said Assistant Attorney General Tysen Duva of the DOJ’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."

Nicks and Richard’s charges include using a firearm to kill during a racketeering murder and murder in aid of racketeering. Their sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 4 and will be decided then by a federal district judge. The other four have already pleaded guilty and will be sentenced Sept. 2.

Katherine Pugh is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage.