A 46-year-old man who ran over and killed his ex-girlfriend, as well as injured her mother when she tried to intervene, in Nuevo while the younger woman's children watched was sentenced Friday to 29 years to life in state prison.
A Riverside jury in December convicted Bun Thieng Leuk of first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon, child abuse and violation of a domestic violence restraining order for the deadly 2019 vehicular attack on 35-year-old Linda Holguin.
"The crime involved great violence, and there are no circumstances in mitigation,'' Riverside County Superior Court Judge Bernard Schwartz said before handing down the sentence. "The defendant has expressed no remorse.''
Schwartz gave Leuk credit for time served in the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta while awaiting trial, amounting to roughly 2.5 years, effectively reducing his sentence to 26.5 years to life in state prison.
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According to sheriff's officials, about 5 p.m. Sept. 9, 2019, Leuk was involved in a dispute with Holguin while the victim stood with her young children and mother, Frances Rios, outside her home in the 29000 block of 13th Street, near Reservoir Avenue.
After Holguin told Leuk to leave, he threw his Toyota Tacoma pickup into gear and aimed it at the victim, according to witnesses, one of whom told investigators that the woman was 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.
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Sheriff's Sgt. Rick Espinoza said Leuk raced out of the area 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 matter was consolidated with the offenses for which he was ultimately convicted.
Leuk had no documented prior felony or misdemeanor convictions.
