Fresno County DA refers shooting which killed 2 teens back to police department
The man accused of a double killing in southeast Fresno is not yet seeing any charges in the incident.
Police on June 1 accused a 21-year-old man of being the gunman who killed Nicole Diaz, 17, and Noah Golding, 19, following a social media feud. Golding and Diaz were dating.
The public information officer for the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office, Taylor Long, told The Bee on Thursday that the case had been referred back to the police department and that the DA’s Office had not yet decided if any charges would be forthcoming.
“This case is pending further investigation,” Long said.
The Bee has previously named the 21-year-old but is not now since it’s unclear if he will face charges.
Police said Diaz had some kind of argument online with another young woman and met May 31 on Argyle Avenue, which is northeast of Kings Canyon Road and Clovis Avenue, to fight about 1:20 a.m.
Investigators said at some point during a melee, the 21-year-old fired a gun, killing both teens.
Police in an update Thursday morning said further video showed Golding was armed also.
When officers arrived May 31, Diaz was deceased. Golding was pronounced dead after being take to Community Regional Medical Center, police said.
Officers soon after the incident made a traffic stop at Peach and Belmont avenues of a white Chevrolet Malibu that left the scene carrying a 16-year-old and the 21-year-old, according to police. The violence was close to a police substation.
The 21-year-old was in possession of a semi-automatic weapon and arrested on suspicion of two counts of murder, police said. The 16-year-old driver was released without arrest.
Video shared online shows multiple people at the scene before the gunfire began.
Police said it was not immediately clear if any of the people involved lived in the area and why the location was chosen.
Noah Golding
Fresno police confirmed Golding was the brother of Isiah Murrietta-Golding, an unarmed 16-year-old who a Fresno police sergeant fatally shot in the back of the head as the boy fled in 2017.
The city agreed to pay $4.9 million in April 2021 to the teens’ mother, Christina Pauline Lopez of Madera, following a lawsuit.
She was accused in October of buying guns for Fresno gang members.
