OAKLAND \u2014 A surveillance camera positioned outside apartment number four at 185 15th Street captured Zoe Reidy-Watts\u2019 last known act \u2014 a final attempt to escape a violent death.<\/p>\n
The haunting footage, described in court filings, depicts the seriously injured 25-year-old artist lying near the front door, \u201cbarely moving\u201d but still alive. A few moments later, a naked man, identified as 29-year-old Victor \u201cFrito\u201d Frieson III, emerges from the unit and drags her back inside. It was about 12:30 a.m. on March 1, 2024.<\/p>\n
Six hours later, police were called to the apartment for a report of a suspicious death; the officer who responded placed Frieson in handcuffs almost immediately, and prosecutors charged him with murder after a cursory view of the evidence. The footage, obtained by police days later, has now been cited by the Alameda County District Attorney to justify a new, additional charge before his trial begins next year: torture.<\/p>\n
Reidy-Watts, a San Francisco State University alumnus, was a visual artist and poet with an extensive resume that included numerous performances and exhibit work, time as an arts instructor and a clothing designer. Frieson\u2019s neighbor testified at the December 2024 preliminary hearing that Frieson introduced her as his girlfriend, and that the two had a \u201cnormal\u201d but sometimes volatile relationship that included Frieson remarking he would \u201cbeat her (expletive)\u201d over about $10 of marijuana.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was trying to console him and say, \u2018Hey, let that go. Humble yourself. It\u2019s only weed. You know, it\u2019s not worth all of that,\u2019\u2009\u201d Frieson\u2019s neighbor testified. \u201cAnd he said, \u2018You know what, Green? You\u2019re right.\u2019\u2009\u201d<\/p>\n
Frieson, a sex offender who had failed to register for nearly two years before his arrest in this case, had been accused of sexual assault and domestic violence by Reidy-Watts before, according to authorities. They\u2019d broken up and re-ignited their relationship, witnesses testified at the hearing. Hours before Reidy-Watts was killed, the two went to San Francisco for a meal, then returned back to their Lake Merritt-adjacent apartment on BART, authorities said.<\/p>\n
Surveillance footage outside their apartment shows them going inside a little before 11 p.m. They were the only known occupants, and Reidy-Watts appears alert and healthy on the footage, according to court records. Less than two hours later, she was near death, unable to walk, but still mustered enough strength to get herself out of the apartment before Frieson allegedly yanked her back in.<\/p>\n
In the video, Frieson \u201cgrabbed her as if she wasn\u2019t even a human being, and pulled her so far into that apartment that her body was twisting and flailing against the walls,\u201d Deputy District Attorney Nick Homer argued at the hearing, later writing in court filings it showed Frieson derived \u201cpleasure\u201d from her suffering.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt reflects a cold, calculated intent to inflict as much pain as possible. Ms. Watts was left to bleed internally for hours until she died,\u201d Homer said, citing a pathologist\u2019s determination she died from blunt force trauma and strangulation inflicted over a \u201csubstantial period of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Frieson\u2019s neighbor\u2019s account is equally chilling. He was fast asleep the morning of March 1, 2024, but something told him to open his eyes. When he did, Frieson was standing there, inside the apartment, coming towards him. The neighbor said he was shocked and groggy, but later realized the lock to his front door had been busted open.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I jumped up and I\u2019m like, \u2018Bro what\u2019s going on?\u2019\u2009\u201d he testified. Frieson said that he needed help and suggested Reidy-Watts. A pathologist testified her death wasn\u2019t caused by drugs.<\/p>\n
The neighbor followed Frieson into apartment number four. He said he remembers vividly the sight that greeted him.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m still affected. She wasn\u2019t with us. She was clearly dead,\u201d he testified. Frieson abruptly pulled off a towel that covered her, displaying the extensive injuries.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s when I asked him directly, \u2018Bro, what is all these bruises on her body?\u2019\u2009\u201d the neighbor testified. Frieson responded with a claim that he\u2019d picked Reidy-Watts up from San Francisco, where she\u2019d been in a fight. The neighbor told Frieson \u201c10-12 times\u201d to call 911, he said.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors say that rather than help her, Frieson spent the early morning of March 1 attempting to clean up the crime scene. Still, blood marks were found on the walls and floor of every part of the dwelling, they say.<\/p>\n
During their interactions, Frieson\u2019s demeanor never changed, his neighbor said on the stand.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Frieson) appeared real calm. I\u2019m not gonna lie,\u201d he testified.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 A surveillance camera positioned outside apartment number four at 185 15th Street captured Zoe Reidy-Watts\u2019 last…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":81270,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[46436,861,862,143,46435,863,15369,145,144,46434,46433,46431,46432],"class_list":["post-81269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-artist-killed","tag-bay-area-crime","tag-california-crime","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-artist-murder","tag-oakland-crime","tag-oakland-domestic-violence","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-victor-frieson","tag-zoe-artist-oakland","tag-zoe-killa","tag-zoe-reidy-watts"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81269","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81269\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81270"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}