Nikha Marcella DeGuzman was a 20-year-old Hispanic woman from Union City, California, remembered by loved ones as a goofy, loyal friend and a talented artist who wrote poetry, literature, and music. A graduate of James Logan High School who attended Chabot College, Nikha was described in her obituary as a self-sufficient and independent young lady who worked for companies like Apple and Tesla. Her family recalled her as someone whose life was just beginning.
On the evening of January 27, 2022, guests at the Good Nite Inn in Fremont heard a man and a woman arguing in Room 219, followed by a single gunshot. Nikha’s boyfriend, Nolan Rian Hurd, called 911 a minute or two later, claiming his girlfriend had shot herself in the head. Witnesses reported seeing Nikha, who was naked, run or crawl from the room while Hurd tried to pull her back inside. She had been shot behind the ear but was initially conscious and could be heard wailing in the background of the 911 call.
Nikha was taken to a hospital, where she died from her injury two days later on January 29, 2022.
Although her death was initially investigated as a suicide, authorities grew suspicious. Hurd’s conflicting statements, witness accounts, the angle of the bullet, and gunshot residue tests all pointed away from a self-inflicted wound. The pistol was found under Nikha’s right leg. Prosecutors later alleged that the couple had a "toxic" relationship and that Hurd had tried to coach Nikha to take the blame for the shooting even as she lay dying, just as he had allegedly pressured her to “take the fall” for him in the past.
In September 2022, Nolan Rian Hurd was charged with one count of murder in Nikha’s death. He was arrested in Stockton on December 15, 2022. While in Santa Rita Jail awaiting trial, Hurd accumulated more charges, including assault for the stabbing of another inmate and possession of a homemade knife.
Hurd’s murder trial featured two competing narratives. The prosecution argued Hurd killed Nikha, while the defense maintained she died by suicide, pointing to a history of depression and a digitally enhanced 911 call in which they claimed Nikha could be heard saying, “I shot myself.” Hurd testified in his own defense. In August 2025, the jury acquitted Hurd of first-degree murder but was deadlocked on the lesser charges of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, resulting in a mistrial.
Rather than face a second trial, Hurd accepted a plea deal. He pleaded no contest to voluntary manslaughter, and in exchange, prosecutors dropped the two cases against him from his time in jail. In June 2026, a judge sentenced Hurd to 11 years in prison, with credit for nearly five years of time served. At the sentencing, Nikha’s family expressed devastation, calling the sentence disproportionate to their loss. Her grandmother, Arlene Velasquez, said, “No punishment can restore a future she was denied, or heal a pain her death has caused.”
