Oxnard Man Pleads Not Guilty To Murder, Attempted Murder, And Assault In Connection With Separate Shootings

Wednesday October 04, 2023

     Updated--An Oxnard man has pleaded not guilty to First Degree Murder, Attempted Murder, and Assault with a Firearm in connection with two high profile shooting incidents in Oxnard.

     20-year-old Willis Nichols of Oxnard is accused of shooting into a crowd of about 100 people attending a large illegal party on the night of March 12, 2022 in what was described as an abandoned building in the 3000 block of Saviers Road.

     The shooting left 21-year-old Adrian Sandoval of Oxnard dead and two other young men injured.

     Sandoval died at the scene.

     Nichols was arrested in connection with the incident on July 5, 2022.

     Nichols also pleaded not guilty in connection with a separate shooting incident that happened three months earlier in the parking structure at The Collection Riverpark in Oxnard in December of 2021.

     In that incident he is alleged to have fired several shots at a car severely wounding one person and almost hitting another.

     After being ordered to stand trial, Nichols Wednesday entered not guilty pleas to one count of First Degree Murder, one count of Attempted Murder, two counts of Assault with a Firearm, and three counts of Shooting at an Occupied Vehicle.

     He also denied more than two dozen Special Allegations.

     He remains in jail with no chance of bail and is due in court January 10th for a Pretrial Conference.