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Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Man Pleads Not Guilty to Fatal Shooting at Club : Crime: The Sun Valley resident is accused of killing one and injuring six during an argument. He faces 35 years to life in prison.

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SPECIAL TO THE TIMES

William Lee Knight pleaded not guilty Wednesday to a 12-count complaint that included murder in connection with a shootout at a popular Palmdale nightspot.

Knight, a 25-year-old Sun Valley resident, is accused of shooting to death Lancaster resident Brently E. Young, 30, during an argument outside The Old Firehouse at its 2 a.m. closing time Monday. Knight is also accused of injuring six others, including a 16-year-old pregnant teen, after he and Young began firing at each other.

The charges filed against Knight, who is being held without bail, involve 10 felonies, including murder with the use of a firearm, attempted murder of a security guard, and six charges (one for each of the injured) of assault with a firearm and great bodily injury inflicted. He was also charged with two misdemeanors: evading officers and having a weapon in a vehicle.

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According to court records, Knight has twice previously been sentenced to prison--once for two years, the other for three years--on separate convictions involving the possession of narcotics for sale.

Knight could be sentenced to 35 years to life if convicted of murder. A preliminary hearing is set for Sept. 8.

Before this week’s shooting at The Old Firehouse, officials with the state Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control were investigating allegations that the establishment’s owners were running a disorderly operation and that alcohol was being sold to minors.

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Jim Smith, an ABC district administrator, said the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department on June 4 took the unusual step of filing a complaint with ABC about the nightclub, saying its owner failed to maintain order inside and outside the building.

Last month, Smith said, ABC received an anonymous complaint from a citizen alleging that The Old Firehouse was selling alcohol to minors.

Four of the six people who were injured in the shootout were below the legal drinking age of 21. The injured include Kella L. Mastrianni, 16; Carnel M. Hall, 18; Jennifer Allen, 20; Delilah Robinson, 20; Therman Tatum, 30, and Becky Eigenbrod, 26. Mastrianni, who is being treated at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center, is seven months pregnant. Her unborn child was not harmed in the shooting.

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ABC investigators made a pair of inspections one July evening in response to the Sheriff’s Department complaint, Smith said. Another inspection was made earlier this month, he said. He said investigators noted that the bar was crowded but orderly and that no alcohol sales to minors were seen during the visits.

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