Two men from Northern California were charged on Tuesday with the murder of a 25-year-old man, who was gunned down in Glendale for allegedly making comments that a woman associated with the defendants considered insulting.
Laquan Dontae Parker of Suisun City, 24, and Brandon Jamal Perkins, 26, of Stockton, pleaded not guilty to a murder charge stemming from the death of Phillip Niles Jr., who was shot just before 4 a.m. Saturday in front of an apartment building in the 1700 block of North Verdugo Road.
Parker and Perkins are also charged with one count each of possession of a firearm by a felon and carrying a loaded stolen firearm.
The two were arrested along with Dezerea Lyons, an 18-year-old woman from Napa, at a Monrovia hotel just after 11 p.m. Saturday, according to Glendale police.
No criminal case against Lyons was presented to prosecutors and she was released, according to Ricardo Santiago of the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.
Police said Sunday that detectives believed Lyons felt insulted by comments made by Niles, and contacted Parker and Perkins, who were allegedly waiting outside to confront him.
Glendale police Sgt. Robert William told the Los Angeles Times that what Niles had said was not clear. But according to police, Lyons reportedly told him, "You don't know me. You don't know what I'm capable of.''
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Niles -- who had recently moved from Daytona Beach, Florida, to Los Angeles -- was shot multiple times. He ran a short distance and collapsed on the front lawn of a home in the 1600 block of The Midway Street.
Parker and Perkins remain jailed in lieu of $3 million bail each. They are due back in a Pasadena courtroom July 12, when a date is scheduled to be set for a hearing to determine if there is enough evidence to require them to stand trial.
If convicted as charged, the two face a possible maximum sentence of 50 years to life in state prison, according to the District Attorney's Office.
