WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) - A security guard at a Worcester rooming house charged with fatally shooting the building’s janitor was ordered held without bail at his initial court appearance Monday.
A not guilty plea was entered on behalf of Howard Penn, 53, at his arraignment on a murder charge in Central District Court.
Penn called police after the Friday shooting, but not before a resident of the rooming house hid the alleged murder weapon, according to police.
That resident, Fabiano Sanabria, 33, pleaded not guilty to accessory and firearms charges. He was held pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Jan. 21.
The victim was identified as Lloyd Worster, 52, who lived nearby and worked as a custodian at the building.
Penn’s lawyer said the shooting was in self-defense, according to The Telegram & Gazette (https://bit.ly/1m34oqj ).
Court records show that Penn called police and said there was a fight in a first-floor security room and he shot someone.
Worster was pronounced dead at St. Vincent Hospital.
Security personnel for the rooming house are not armed.
It was the city’s first homicide of the year. Penn is scheduled back in court on Feb. 13.
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Information from: Telegram & Gazette (Worcester, Mass.), https://www.telegram.com
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