Temecula Woman Accused Of Murder Due In Court Friday

TEMECULA, CA — A woman accused of gunning down an acquaintance at a Temecula residence is slated to be arraigned Friday on first-degree murder and other charges.

Nicaela Andria Hernandez, 32, of Temecula was arrested last month following a Riverside County Sheriff's Department investigation in the 31000 block of Sunflower Way, near Temecula Lane.

Along with murder, Hernandez is charged with sentence-enhancing gun and great bodily injury allegations.

She made her initial court appearance on Dec. 31 before Superior Court Judge Judith Clark, who appointed her a public defender and scheduled her arraignment for Friday at the Southwest Justice Center in Murrieta.

The defendant is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Robert Presley Jail.

According to Sgt. Mike Kelleher, patrol deputies were called to the Sunflower Way house shortly before 7 p.m. on Dec. 29 to investigate reports of a gun assault.

Kelleher said they found the victim, identified in court documents only as a woman with the initials "M.I.," suffering from a mortal wound to which she succumbed at the scene.

Hernandez was at the property and detained for questioning, according to the sergeant. By the predawn hours of Dec. 30, Central Homicide Unit detectives determined there was sufficient evidence to formally arrest the defendant, and she was transported to the Riverside jail.

A possible motive for the alleged attack was not disclosed, and it was unclear how Hernandez and M.I. knew one another.

The defendant has no documented prior felony convictions in Riverside County.