Retrial Begins For Man Accused Of Killing Rancho Penasquitos Woman

SAN DIEGO, CA — A man accused of breaking into a woman's Rancho Penasquitos condominium and killing her is on trial for the woman's murder for the second time, with opening statements and the first witness testimony delivered Monday.

Prosecutors allege Parrish Juan Chambers Jr., 47, smashed through a window to gain access to Nahal Connie Dadkhah's home and beat her to death, while Chambers' defense attorney, Abram Genser, argued any injuries Chambers may have inflicted were not life-threatening and Dadkhah died instead of a brain bleed caused by excessive methamphetamine use.

Dadkhah, 45, was found dead on a couch inside her Twin Trails Drive home on the morning of June 15, 2022, after Chambers told one of Dadkhah's neighbors that she wasn't breathing and asked him to call 911.

While several neighbors called 911 on the night of June 14 to report the disturbance, officers who responded to the condo ultimately did not enter the residence and left the scene, sparking public criticism and a lawsuit from Dadkhah's family.

In a news release announcing Chambers' arrest, police said officers went to the condo on a report of a disturbance there involving Chambers, but left after being unable to confirm a crime had occurred or being able to make contact with anyone inside.

Chambers initially went to trial last year, during which a San Diego jury acquitted him of first-degree murder, but deadlocked after more than three days of deliberation on lesser counts of second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter. The same jury did, however, convict Chambers of battery and false imprisonment for other prior altercations involving Dadkhah.

Those prior incidents were referenced in the prosecution's opening statements, in which Deputy District Attorney Trisha Amador told jurors that Chambers had pushed, grabbed, and choked Dadkhah on several occasions in the past.

After her death, an autopsy revealed blunt force injuries to Dadkhah's head and more than 50 bruises and cuts, Amador said.

Chambers and Dadkhah were not strangers to one another, but the prosecution and defense have offered differing perspectives on the nature of their connection.

Genser told jurors his client and Dadkhah were in a three-year romantic relationship and "loved each other," though their relationship was toxic. While he conceded Chambers had been abusive to Dadkhah, he argued the victim also abused Chambers physically and emotionally.

On the night of June 14, Chambers was excessively intoxicated, according to Genser, who claimed Chambers drank the equivalent of 18 liquor shots and was drunk enough to have no memory of what happened that night.

Amador said in her opening statements that Chambers scaled a wall and made his way to Dadkhah's balcony "with no difficulty," in what was likely a reference to the defense's claims of his intoxication levels.

The defense attorney said that Chambers did break through one of Dadkhah's windows and that an "altercation" occurred, but said the pair made up afterwards.

Genser said there was no evidence of a beating taking place in the condo as the prosecution argued and said that any blood found in the condo was Chambers' due to cutting himself on the broken window.

"I'm not going to stand up here and tell you that what happened on June 14 wasn't a crime...It was a crime, but it's not murder. Parrish Chambers is not a murderer," Genser said.

Amador said Chambers was enraged because Dadkhah wouldn't let him into her condo and said neighbors could hear him screaming to be let in.

"She didn't (let him in)," the prosecutor said. "She stayed in what she thought was the safety of her home."

— City News Service