Man Denies Killing Wife In Their Moreno Family Apartment

MORENO VALLEY, CA — A 25-year-old man accused of fatally attacking his wife during a dispute in their Moreno Valley home pleaded not guilty Tuesday to first-degree murder.

Kendrick Lavare Govan was arrested at the end of June following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation into the death of 27-year-old Tianah Govan.

Kendrick Govan was arraigned Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Jennifer Gerard, who set a felony settlement conference for Oct. 27 at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Alberto Loureiro, Govan and his spouse were involved in an unspecified confrontation just after 8 p.m. on June 30 at their apartment in the 21000 block of Box Springs Road, near Morton Road.

During the conflict, Govan fatally assaulted the victim, Loureiro alleged. He did not disclose whether a weapon was used.

The defendant evidently called 911 when his wife fell unconscious.

Loureiro said patrol deputies and paramedics reached the location a short time later and attempted resuscitative measures, but Tianah Govan was pronounced dead at the scene.

Central Homicide Unit detectives questioned the defendant, after which he was taken into custody uneventfully and booked into the Banning jail.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.

There was no word regarding how long the couple had been together, or whether there had been prior conflicts in the home.