OAKLAND, CA - AUGUST 03: Oakland police search for suspects on Magnolia Street between 32nd and 34th Streets in West Oakland, Calif., on Tuesday, August 3, 2021. Robbery suspects from Newark led police on a chase to Oakland. (Jane Tyska/Bay Area News Group)
OAKLAND — A 21-year-old man who is charged with committing a string of violent crimes when he was 16 has been transferred back to juvenile court, records show.
Zikih Nobles, of San Leandro, was charged in 2021 with murder, five counts of attempted murder, three counts of robbery and one count of attempted robbery, all in relation to a series of 2017 crimes when he was still in his teens. Since then, Nobles has bounced back and forth between juvenile and adult court, and now may find himself going back and forth at least once more.
A June order signed by an Alameda County Superior Court judge approved Nobles’ transfer from adult back to juvenile court, after Nobles’ attorney filed a motion citing a new state law that changes the legal standard for when teens can be tried as adults. The new law requires a judge to find “by clear and convincing evidence that the minor is not amenable to rehabilitation while under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court,” which is designed to emphasize rehabilitation over punishment.
In 2021, Judge Scott Jackson transferred Nobles from juvenile to adult court, finding in his written ruling that Nobles had been living an “adult lifestyle” and that his alleged crimes showed pre-planning and “sophistication well beyond his 16 years.”
In the robberies, for instance, Nobles allegedly created a fake identity and lured victims to locations where they felt safe to rob them of iPhones they had advertised online. In the homicide, he allegedly disposed of the murder weapon.
But Jackson’s order also notes that Nobles experienced a horrific childhood. Both of his parents were incarcerated, he both witnessed and experienced domestic violence, he witnessed people being killed in front of him, and was stabbed as a child, according to court records.
“It is no wonder that Zlkih sought out some form of familial relationships,” Jackson wrote, adding that he “unfortunately” found familial bonds by joining a street gang. He has also been diagnosed with “Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, Post
Traumatic Stress Disorder, Cannabis Use Disorder, Opioid Use Disorder, Child Neglect, Child Physical Name and suspected Child Psychological Abuse,” the order says.
Nobles is charged with killing 18-year-old Soane Mausia on Nov. 5, 2017, in Oakland. Mausia, who had previously dated Nobles’ sister, was a graduate of Skyline High School with a 4.0 GPA, according to a GoFundMe page written by his grandmother. During the shooting, Mausia’s brother was also struck by gunfire, and other family members were nearby, according to police.
“(Mausia) was wise beyond his years. He had an ear for those that needed comfort … When he saw somebody suffering, he never criticized, he always stood up for the underdog,” the GoFundMe page says.
Police interviewed Nobles in August 2018 and he admitted involvement, according to the probable cause statement by police Det. Omar Daza-Quiroz. But Jackson’s order says Nobles also skillfully dodged police questioning in an interview the year before.
Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, who won the 2022 election handily on a campaign of justice reform, has pledged not to try kids as adults. But office has not publicly indicated whether it will continue the prosecution of Nobles in adult court if he’s transferred there once again.
Originally published at Nate Gartrell