A man accused of stabbing his three sons to death inside an SUV in South Los Angeles in September pleaded not guilty Tuesday to three counts of murder.
Luiz Fuentes, 33, was ordered to remain jailed without bail while awaiting his next court appearance Jan. 26.
Clad in yellow, Fuentes bowed his head and through a translator entered a not guilty plea before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Sergio C. Tapia II.
Fuentes is charged in the Sept. 9 killings of his sons Alexander, 8, Juan, 9, and Luis, 10.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has yet to decide whether to seek the death penalty against Fuentes, who faces a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders.
A passerby saw Fuentes sitting in the front seat of an SUV parked in the 300 block of East 32nd Street around 7 a.m. on Sept. 9. The man approached the vehicle and saw the children's bodies inside and Fuentes covered in blood from stab wounds.
Police believe Fuentes stabbed himself. He was hospitalized, then booked on suspicion of murder two days later.
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At a vigil in memory of the victims, a pastor said Fuentes had been having financial problems and was living in the SUV with his children, whose mother died in 2008. He was reportedly battling depression.
Fuentes had been investigated several times going back to 2008 for allegations of physical and emotional abuse as well as general neglect, according to a redacted file released in October.
The Department of Children and Family Services investigated the allegations, but the findings were inconclusive.
At one point in the report, the allegations were deemed "aggressive" and that the situation was high-risk.
