DUBLIN — He says his girlfriend shot herself in the head while they were alone in a Fremont hotel, but prosecutors contend he’d done such a good job brainwashing her to “take the fall” for him, she helped cover up her own murder.
On Monday, a jury is set to hear these dueling theories for the first time along with evidence against 25-year-old Stockton resident Nolan Rian Hurd. He is charged with murdering 20-year-old Nikha Marcella DeGuzman while they were alone together in a Fremont hotel in early 2022, but his lawyer contends that a 911 call and other evidence will show the prosecution’s case holds no merit.
Hurd’s legal problems have only gotten worse since he was charged with murder in September 2022. Police believe him to be a member of a Norteño gang, and say he joined three others in the stabbing of another Santa Rita Jail inmate who suffered a “fractured orbital, multiple stab wounds to his torso, and seizures.” That charge, filed in 2024, was only compounded by a new felony case filed in late June, alleging that last March, Hurd was caught with a homemade knife inside the jail, court records show.
Prosecutors view DeGuzman’s death as the culmination of a long history of abuse. They say DeGuzman’s friends noticed the telltale signs — one worried that something bad would befall her when she learned Hurd was in a gang. Others noticed bruises or marks on her body. Another recounted a conversation with DeGuzman where she talked about getting pulled over by a California Highway Patrol officer with Hurd.
“That’s your gun right,” Hurd allegedly asked DeGuzman, pressuring her to take responsibility when the weapon was found during a search of the car. Prosecutors say this was just one time Hurd got DeGuzman to “take the fall” for him, and that it happened again after he shot her in the head.
“Please, Nikki, tell them what happened!” a panicked Hurd can be heard saying on the 911 call after the shooting. Prosecutors say her response was either “I don’t know” or “I shot myself,” but that even as she lay dying from the gunshot wound, he was attempting to “coach” her into taking the blame.
To Hurd’s lawyer, Adam Penella, the 911 call absolves Hurd of murder. He described the call as “clearly exonerating” and signaled that the defense will be that DeGuzman died of suicide, not at Hurd’s hands.
“Stay with me! Stay with me baby,” Hurd allegedly told her on the call, before reiterating to a 911 dispatcher the location of the shooting. “Oh why’d you do that? Are you okay? Stay with me, look at me, look at me. Keep your eyes open! Look at me!”
Opening statements are set to begin on Monday morning in Dublin, according to court records. Jurors won’t have to decide Hurd’s guilt on the new jail charges, only the alleged murder.
Hurd’s legal troubles have been ongoing since before he was charged in DeGuzman’s death. In June 2022, he was sentenced to 120 days for violating his probation in another case. With only two days left to serve, a judge gave him a stern warning before pronouncing sentence.
“Don’t throw your life away,” Judge Thomas Nixon told him.
“No,” Hurd agreed.