Husband Charged With Murder In Fatal Beating Of Wife In Their Moreno Valley Home

MORENO VALLEY, CA — A 25-year-old man accused of fatally beating his wife during a domestic confrontation in their Moreno Valley home was charged Monday with first-degree murder.

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

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Kendrick Govan, who is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Smith Correctional Facility, was slated to make his initial court appearance Monday afternoon at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

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

During the conflict, Kendrick Govan fatally assaulted the victim, Loureiro alleged.

He did not disclose whether a weapon was used.

The defendant apparently 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 without incident and transported to the Banning jail.

He has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.