Two men have pleaded not guilty to murder in connection with the shooting death of another man in Glendale, officials said.
Laquan Parker, 24, of Stockton, and Brandon Perkins, 26, of Suisun City, are each charged on suspicion of one count of murder, possession of a firearm by a felon with priors and carrying a loaded stolen firearm, according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office.
Phillip Niles Jr., 25, a recent transplant from Daytona Beach, was apparently shot outside an apartment along Verdugo Road near Glendale Community College and stumbled a short distance before collapsing on the front lawn of a home in the 1600 block of The Midway Street, police said.
His body was discovered Saturday morning.
Parker and Perkins were later found at a Comfort Inn in Monrovia and were arrested.
Dezerea Lyons, 18, of Napa, was also arrested in connection with the incident and police believed she orchestrated the shooting because she was insulted by something Niles said.
Lyons was later released by police and not charged with a crime, said Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the DA’s office.
Parker was convicted in San Joaquin County of carrying a loaded firearm in public in 2014, and Perkins was convicted Solano County of carrying a concealed firearm in 2009 and possession of a firearm by a felon in 2011, officials said.
Prosecutors asked for their bail to be set at $3 million each during their arraignment on Tuesday.
If convicted, Parker and Perkins face a sentence of 50 years to life in prison, officials said.
