Man to stand trial for death of girlfriend killed during fight with deputy
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (KESQ) - A San Diego County man accused of assaulting a sheriff's deputy and trying to grab the lawman's gun during a confrontation in Corona, culminating in the defendant's girlfriend being fatally shot, must stand trial for murder, a judge ruled Friday.
Eric John Nourani, 35, was arrested in 2024 after the shooting that took the life of 30-year-old Jennifer Rose Dobbins of Imperial Beach.
Following a two-day preliminary hearing that concluded Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Mary Fuller found there was sufficient evidence to bound Nourani over for trial on the murder count, as well as attempted murder, mayhem, resisting arrest and obstructing a law enforcement officer resulting in great bodily injury.
The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Oct. 30 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.
The defendant is free on a $2 million bond.
The criminal complaint against Nourani alleges he was responsible for Dobbins' death under a provision of California's felony murder rule that allows for a party to be tried for causing a death when the fatality occurred as a result of an attack on a peace officer, even though the party did not directly inflict the wounds.
The murder rule was legislatively modified in 2018, making it harder to charge a person for a collateral death, but it still applies when a peace officer is the named victim of an attack.
According to sheriff's officials, shortly after 1 a.m. June 11, 2024, a deputy working patrol in the unincorporated community of Coronita, a tiny hamlet within Corona, was traveling the Sixth Street corridor, near Lincoln Avenue. when he spotted "multiple subjects'' and stopped to investigate what they were doing.
"The subjects took off running, and the deputy pursued them on foot,'' according to a sheriff's statement. "When the deputy turned the corner of a building, (Nourani) lunged at him, and a fight ensued.''
Sheriff's officials alleged that while the deputy struggled with the defendant, Dobbins jumped into the fray and began "assaulting the deputy,'' and she was shot by the deputy.
"The female suspect was struck by gunfire,'' the agency stated. "The deputy continued to fight off (Nourani), who was attempting to take his firearm until good Samaritans arrived and assisted in detaining him."
Dobbins was taken to Riverside Community Hospital, where she died two hours later.
The deputy suffered unspecified moderate injuries that required medical attention, while Nourani was treated for minor injuries before he was booked into jail. He managed to post bail weeks afterward.
Nourani has no documented prior criminal history in Riverside County.
