Trial Set For Man Accused Of Fatally Beating Girlfriend In MoVal

RIVERSIDE, CA — Trial proceedings are slated to get underway next week for an ex-con accused of beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death in her Moreno Valley apartment, where her child was present.

Latravius Brian Gobert, 35, of Moreno Valley allegedly killed Mariah Malveaux three years ago and is charged with murder, child endangerment and a sentence-enhancing allegation of committing a crime within five years of parole from state prison.

During a pretrial hearing on Friday, Riverside County Superior Court Judge Samuel Diaz tentatively set jury selection to start Monday morning at the Riverside Hall of Justice.

According to sheriff's Sgt. Wally Clear, deputies were called to an apartment complex in the 25000 block of Alessandro Boulevard, near Perris Boulevard, about 4:30 p.m. on March 17, 2018, to investigate reports of a woman in distress.

When deputies entered Malveaux's apartment, they found her unconscious and struggling to breathe, prompting them to begin CPR, Clear said. Paramedics arrived moments later and continued to attempt to revive the victim, who was taken to nearby Riverside University Medical Center, where she died that evening. Her toddler daughter was not injured.

Gobert was taken into custody without incident in the vicinity of the apartment, Clear said.

Investigators did not say how long the defendant and Malveaux had been in a relationship, and a specific motive for the alleged attack was not disclosed.

According to court records, Gobert has prior convictions for threatening a peace officer with a deadly weapon, child endangerment, making terrorist threats, possession of cocaine for sale and criminal street gang activity.

Gobert is being held in lieu of $1 million at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside.

—City News Service.