One of four people accused of involvement in the gang-retaliation killing of a man in City Heights more than four years ago pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder and other charges.
Lamont Holman, 24, was ordered held without bail.
Holman — who was already in custody in connection with a separate murder — was re-arrested Friday in the April 17, 2011, shooting death of 28- year-old Cordell King.
The defendant — who’s charged with murder, conspiracy to commit murder and being a felon in possession of a weapon — allegedly was one of four people in a car that approached as King was talking on his cell phone in the 4600 block of Thorn Street shortly after 5 p.m.
Dionte Simpson, 25, allegedly got out of the car and opened fire with an AK-47 assault rifle, striking King in the head and chest.
Two women — Callie Beasley and Jennifer Lee Whitmer — are also charged in King’s death.
Deputy District Attorney Christopher Lawson said King was “executed” six days after a well-known member of the defendants’ gang was killed in a drive-by shooting on Ocean View Boulevard.
Officials have not disclosed whether the victim had gang ties.
— City News Service
