An 18-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of two teenagers after a December party in San Diego.
Derelle Oliver, 18, also pleaded not guilty in a San Diego Superior Court Tuesday to other felonies including assault with a firearm and conspiracy to commit assault with a firearm.
The murder charges were dismissed last month for lack of evidence, but were later refiled.
Deputy Public Defender John Stathis said in court Tuesday he would again ask the judge to dismiss the murder charges.
Oliver is accused in the killing Michael Taylor, 15, and Monique Palmer, 17 after the pair left a house party in the Valencia Park neighborhood of San Diego. Palmer was senior at Lincoln High School. She died at the corner of Groveland and San Jacinto drives. Her friend Taylor was a freshman at Point Loma High School. He died at a hospital.
In a preliminary hearing in January, the judge dismissed murder charges, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. During a court appearance last week, it was revealed that murder charges have been refiled against Oliver, according to the report.
Oliver's attorney said he would file a motion contesting the murder charges due to insufficient evidence, according to the paper.
Oliver is being held on $2 million bail.
