OAKLAND — An Oakland man was sent to prison to begin a 22-year prison term almost exactly eight years to the day after he shot and killed a teen during a multi-day violent crime spree, court records show.
Zikih Nobles, 24, reported to North Kern State Prison on Nov. 6, after agreeing to the 22-year sentence as part of a plea deal with Alameda County prosecutors. Nobles pleaded no contest to manslaughter in the Nov. 5, 2017 killing of 18-year-old Soane Mausia, and to an unrelated robbery around the same time, court records show.
Nobles gets credit for eight years he already spent behind bars, according to court records.
Nobles was charged in 2021, not just with murder but with several counts of attempted murder and robbery, all related to a crime spree when he was 16. His case shifted between juvenile and adult court, with a judge ruling in 2023 that he deserved to be tried as a juvenile, before another judge signed off on prosecutors charging him as an adult, records show.
Nobles is an alleged member of the Case gang, an Oakland-based organization that has existed for decades and been blamed for numerous shootings over the years. During the debate regarding his prosecution, a judge noted that Nobles had been living like an adult for years after a particularly troubling childhood, during which time Nobles’ parents were incarcerated and he was stabbed, and which also included him witnessing multiple homicides.
In 2017, Nobles allegedly robbed a woman and shot at her — later claiming the shooting was accidental — after using a fake alias to advertise a cellphone for sale online. This act kicked off a multi-day crime spree that included the killing of Mausia, an acquaintance who had dated one of Nobles’ relatives, police said at the time.
Mausia was shot and killed at a home on the intersection of Lockwood Street and 78th Avenue, according to police. His brother was wounded by gunfire but survived.
Nobles later admitted involvement in the killing, as well as shooting up a house of suspected gang rivals elsewhere in town, and assured police the murder weapon was disposed of so effectively there was no chance that schoolchildren would stumble upon it, according to court records.
The crime spree ended on Nov. 5, 2017, hours after the fatal shooting, when Nobles allegedly led police on a chase through Oakland freeways in a stolen 2002 Mercedes Benz. The car suffered multiple collisions and was eventually forced to stop, and Nobles was arrested, police said at the time.
In 2020, a Case gang leader known as Yodi referred to Nobles by the moniker “Blaat” during a jail phone call, where gang members were discussing how to retaliate for Nobles being battered during a fight, according to authorities.
Mausia had just graduated Skyline High School with a 4.0 GPA, according to an online fundraiser posted shortly after his death.
“(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 fundraiser says.