BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - A Louisiana man accused of fatally shooting three homeless people pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a murder charge in one of the deaths.
Jeremy Anderson, 29, was indicted last week on a charge of first-degree murder in the death of 50-year-old Tony Williams. Anderson pleaded not guilty to the charge on the advice of his attorney, Assistant Public Defender Carson Marcantel, The Advocate reported.
Anderson was arrested in January in connection with the fatal shootings last December of Williams, Christina Fowler, 53 and Gregory Corcoran, 40.
District Attorney Hillar Moore III said charging Anderson only in Williams’ death allows his office to prosecute Anderson as an alleged serial killer and use evidence from the Fowler-Corcoran slayings at trial.
Fowler and Corcoran were found fatally shot Dec. 13 underneath an overpass, huddled in blankets beside an empty shopping cart. Williams was found Dec. 27, shot to death on the porch of a vacant home about two blocks away.
Anderson lived two blocks from where both shootings occurred.
Baton Rouge Police Chief Murphy Paul said evidence found inside Anderson’s home helped link him to the killings.
The District Attorney’s Office did not immediately say if prosecutors would seek the death penalty. If not, Anderson would be sentenced to life in prison if convicted.
Anderson’s next court date is scheduled for June 15.
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