A 45-year-old man accused of running over and killing his ex-girlfriend on a Nuevo street, as well as injuring her mother when she tried to intervene, must stand trial for murder and other offenses, a judge ruled Wednesday.
Bun Thieng Leuk allegedly killed Linda Holguin in a 2019 vehicular assault.
Following a preliminary hearing at the Riverside Hall of Justice, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Randell Stamen found there was sufficient evidence to bound Leuk over for trial on the murder count, as well as charges of assault with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, attempted domestic abuse and violating a domestic violence restraining order.
The judge scheduled a post-preliminary hearing arraignment for Feb. 16 and left the defendant’s bail set at $1 million.
Leuk is being held at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to sheriff’s officials, at about 5 p.m. on Sept. 9, 2019, the defendant was involved in a dispute with Holguin while the victim stood with her children and mother, Frances Rios, outside her home in the 29000 block of 13th Street.
While at the wheel of his Toyota Tacoma pickup, Leuk threw the vehicle into gear and aimed it at Holguin, according to witnesses, one of whom told investigators that the victim was allegedly run over several times before the defendant fled.
Rios was struck when she attempted to come to her daughter’s aid, suffering minor injuries, according to investigators.
Sheriff’s Sgt. Rick Espinoza said Leuk sped away before deputies arrived. Holguin was pronounced dead at the scene.
During the predawn hours of Sept. 11, 2019, Fontana police officers stopped Leuk in his pickup on Riverside Avenue, near Interstate 10, where he was taken into custody without a struggle.
The defendant had a related domestic battery case pending at the time of his arrest, and that has been consolidated with the murder complaint.
Leuk has no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions.
