An Oakland man is facing the possibility of life in prison after he was found guilty of killing a 25-year-old woman during a brutal 2024 domestic violence attack that drew murder and torture charges.
An Alameda County jury found Victor Frieson, 30, guilty of second-degree murder, torture, and corporal injury to a romantic partner with great bodily injury for killing Zoe Nika Reidy Watts in Oakland on March 1, 2024, the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced on Tuesday.
Prosecutors say the pair had an “on-again, off-again” relationship for less than a year but during that short time, there were two reported domestic violence attacks, one in San Francisco and one in Oakland.
During the trial, evidence was presented that showed Frieson beat Watts to death inside his Oakland apartment.
Alameda County District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson said the attack that killed Watts, a beloved San Francisco State University student and artist, was “an act of extraordinary violence.
“She was a talented artist, a dedicated student, and a young woman whose future was filled with promise,” Jones Dickson said. “While no verdict can restore what her family, friends, and the Bay Area artistic community have lost, we hope today’s decision provides a measure of accountability and peace.”
Frieson was arrested a few days after the killing and held without bail in Santa Rita Jail.
He was also being held for allegedly failing to register as a sex offender and is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 17 in Alameda County Superior Court in Oakland.