Man accused of killing couple over dispute sparked on social media enters plea in Fresno
.jpeg "Nicole Diaz and Noah Golding")
A 21-year-old Fresno man accused of killing a couple after a social media argument turned violent pleaded not guilty to murder and voluntary manslaughter charges Monday.
Nicholas House will remain in the Fresno County Jail without bail after Judge Francine Zepeda denied his lawyer’s request he be released prior to trial.
House is alleged to have shot and killed Nicole Diaz, 19, and her boyfriend Noah Golding, 17, on June 1 in a southeast Fresno neighborhood.
Deborah Miller, chief deputy district attorney, argued against House’s release, saying he’s a danger to the community. Miller added that House showed up to the location of the shooting wearing a bulletproof vest and carryinga loaded firearm.
Police said Diaz and a woman had been arguing online when they agreed to meet for a fight at an address on Argyle Avenue, northeast of Kings Canyon Road and Clovis Avenue.
Video from a cell phone camera shows Diaz on top of the other young woman as Golding circles them while holding what appears to be a bat, police said.
Golding also appears to kick or stomp on the other young woman, the video shows. That’s when the phone’s camera pans away as gun shots ring out and people begin to scatter.
Diaz died at the scene and Golding died a short time later at Community Regional Medical Center, police said.
Golding was the brother of Isiah Murrietta-Golding, an unarmed 16-year-old who a Fresno police sergeant fatally shot in the back of the head as the boy fled in 2017.
The city agreed to pay $4.9 million in April 2021 to the teens’ mother, Christina Pauline Lopez of Madera, following a lawsuit.
Lopez was arrested in October and accused of buying guns for Fresno gang members. Her preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept. 1.
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 2:51 PM.
