Local News in Brief : Man Pleads Not Guilty in Death of Wife, Fetus
A 23-year-old Pacoima man charged with shooting his pregnant wife in the stomach pleaded not guilty Monday to killing her and the unborn child.
Augustin Jaime Miranda is charged with two counts of murder in the Oct. 17 killing of Rebecca Espinoza and the child she had carried for eight months.
Espinoza died during emergency surgery. Doctors at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills performed a Caesarean section in an unsuccessful attempt to save the child.
Miranda’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Martin H. Wegman, said Miranda could receive the death penalty if convicted of both killings. He is being held without bail in County Jail.
San Fernando Municipal Court Commissioner Charles L. Preven scheduled a preliminary hearing Dec. 3.
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