Sheriff’s deputy kills woman in struggle. But another man is arrested for murder

A Riverside sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a woman during a struggle with her and another man, then booked the man on a murder charge in connection with her death.

The incident occurred early Tuesday, when a Riverside County Sheriff’s deputy tried to contact “multiple subjects” in the 1000 block of West 6th Street in Corona, according to a department press release.

The people the deputy was trying to contact ran away and the deputy pursued them, the department said.

“When the deputy turned the corner of a building, a male suspect lunged at him, and a fight ensued,” the department said in a press release.

The deputy struggled with the man, Eric Nourani, and a woman who the department says started to assault the deputy as well. The deputy then shot the woman, killing her, according to the release.

The deputy and Nourani continued to fight, with Nourani trying to take the deputy’s gun, according to the press release. Good Samaritans helped detain Nourani.

The woman was pronounced dead at a local hospital. The sheriff’s department did not immediately release the victim’s name pending notification of her family.

Nourani was booked on suspicion of murder, attempted murder of a peace officer, mayhem and resisting an officer with violence.

The California Department of Justice is investigating the deputy-involved shooting.

Despite not pulling the trigger himself, Nourani could be charged with murder under the state’s accomplice liability for felony murder law.

While the law was amended in 2018 to make it so fewer people who did not actually pull the trigger could be charged with murder, Nourani still could be eligible to be charged if he is “a major participant in the underlying felony and acted with reckless indifference to human life,” according to the law.

The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office has not yet formally charged Nourani.