Not Guilty Plea in 4 Birthday Slayings

Raymond Navarro Jr., 26, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murdering his estranged wife and three other women during a birthday party blood bath that also left two guests wounded.

Navarro, who could receive the death penalty if convicted, was ordered held without bail.

Maria Delia Navarro was celebrating her 27th birthday with about 20 family members and friends in her East Los Angeles home on Aug. 27 when Navarro allegedly burst in and began shooting a handgun. Mrs. Navarro was shot dead along with her aunts, Maria Garcia, 65, and Francisca Arizpe, 62. Family friend Leticia M. Dipp, 46, was also killed.

A third aunt, Berta Galvan, 47, and party guest Richard Covarrubias, 43, survived gunshot wounds.

Shortly before the rampage, a man called to warn Maria Navarro that her estranged husband was coming to kill her. The woman called the 911 emergency line for help, but was told to call back in what officials later defended as standard procedure.