Alleged serial killer Aeman Presley pleaded not guilty Wednesday afternoon to charges stemming from the shooting death of a hairdresser on the downtown Decatur square.
A tentative date was also set for a separate trial in the death of a homeless man.
Earlier this year, a DeKalb County grand jury indicted Presley in connection with the Dec. 6 death of hairstylist Karen Pearce, who police believe was confronted and shot while walking alone to her car in downtown Decatur. The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office is seeking the death penalty in the case, which includes charges of malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault and armed robbery.
Through his attorneys, Presley, 34, pleaded not guilty to all of the charges during an arraignment hearing in front of DeKalb Superior Court Judge Gregory A. Adams.
Presley, wearing a charcoal gray suit over an open-collared blue dress shirt, did not speak during the process.
Prior to the arraignment hearing, a tentative date of Feb. 29, 2016, was set for Presley’s trial for the death of Calvin Gholston. Gholston, a homeless man, was shot and killed Sept. 27 while sleeping in a breezeway at the Spring Mill Village shopping center on Memorial Drive.
DeKalb prosecutors are not seeking the death penalty in that case, which includes charges of malice murder, felony murder and aggravated assault.
Presley is also facing murder charges — and the death penalty — in Fulton County, where he’s charged with the Thanksgiving week shooting deaths of 42-year-old Dorian Jenkins and 68-year-old Tommy Mims. Both men were homeless and killed in separate incidents while sleeping on Atlanta streets.
Presley was arrested Dec. 11 while trying to board a MARTA train without paying. A handgun tied to all four homicides was found in his possession, police have said.
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