BY
NEWPORT -- Two 15-year-old Newport boys charged in the June 25 shooting death of Charles Johnson Jr. pleaded not guilty to first degree murder Wednesday in Campbell Circuit Court.
Attorney Bill Oldfield entered not guilty pleas for Darnell Walker and Anthony Daniels.
The boys are also charged with robbery. They will be back in court Wednesday for a pretrial hearing before Judge William Wehr.
Until then, the boys will remain in the Mason County Juvenile Detention center.
Mr. Johnson, 59, of Newport, was shot in the back with a .22-caliber revolver after an apparent robbery attempt near Third and Monmouth streets just three blocks from his home, police said. A half hour after the shooting, he was dead in University Hospital's emergency room.
Even though one boy is accused of pulling the trigger, the other was involved in the crime, and he knew what the other teen planned to do, authorities have said.
Mr. Walker has been in the Mason County juvenile detention center on rape and weapons charges, according to court records. Mr. Daniels has no prior record.
Both will be tried as adults. Kentucky youths convicted of murder and robbery in adult court face a maximum sentence of life in prison.
