A gang member accused in the revenge fatal shooting of a man outside a Rolando-area hookah lounge last November pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of murder and being a felon in possession of a gun.
Pierre Verenee Readus, 29, was ordered held on $2 million bail in the Nov. 16 death of Rodney Harmon of San Diego.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lawson told Judge Jay Bloom that Readus and Harmon were involved in an altercation about a month earlier and the 29-year-old victim got the better of the defendant.
Readus left the Crown Hookah Lounge on El Cajon Boulevard near 70th Street about 2:30 a.m. and returned about 90 minutes later and shot Harmon four times, the prosecutor alleged. Harmon died at the scene from gunshot wounds to the chest.
Readus — who has a robbery conviction from 2004 — faces 65 years to life in prison if convicted, Lawson said.
The defendant was arrested Jan. 29 on a probation violation and was booked on the murder charge last week. He will be back in court April 22 for a status conference.
— City News Service