HOUSTON – Two men found dead inside a car in a strip club parking lot in west Houston have been identified as local rappers.
Family members told KPRC2 one of the victims was 24-year-old Nicholas Esene, an up-and-coming rapper who went by the name Ghost Magneto. They also said he and the other victim were friends.
Esene's family said he wanted to be a rapper really bad.
"He was excited about making his album and he had just (moved) into a house. He was so excited. He called me and said, 'Ganny, you will have to come and see my place,'" Brenda Harris, Esene's grandmother, told KPRC2. "After the doctor's appointment, we were going to go and visit with him and then we go and get this call before I leave home."
"He was a nice fella and he didn't deserve this," Harry Harris, Esene's grandfather said.
The bodies were discovered after police said a patron heard gunshots and alerted a security guard who found the men shot to death in the back parking lot of Club Onyx near Richmond Avenue and Bering Drive around 4:17 a.m. Tuesday.
Security went outside to canvass the area but didn’t see anything at first glance, police said. About 30 minutes later, more patrons told security about the shooting again, at which point authorities were called.
According to authorities, they found the two bodies in the vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds along with multiple casings on the ground.Â
Police said they believe it was a targeted attack, and that two shooters killed the victims while they were sitting in the car.
The club has surveillance video, and officers say they will be reviewing the footage for any clues that could lead to an arrest.
The identity of the second victim, who family says was also a rapper, has not been released.
