Woman Accused in Double Killing at CityWalk Pleads Not Guilty : Slayings: Preliminary hearing is scheduled June 15. New details revealed about Donna Kay Lee’s relationship with victims.

A North Hollywood woman pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges in the Mother’s Day double killing at Universal CityWalk, as sheriff’s investigators revealed new details of her relationship with the victims.

Clad in a navy blue jail jumpsuit, Donna Kay Lee, 44, could barely be heard as she entered her plea at a 10-minute arraignment in Beverly Hills Municipal Court. At first, Lee just nodded in response to questions from Judge Elden S. Fox until she was told to speak up.

Lee is charged with the killings of Doris Carasi, 61, and Sonia Salinas, 29, who were found with their throats cut atop a CityWalk parking garage. Lee also faces the special circumstance allegation of committing multiple murders, making her liable to the death penalty if convicted.

But so far the district attorney’s office is not seeking a death sentence for Lee, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. John F. Gilligan, the prosecutor. Gilligan added that his office is looking into whether the murders were planned in advance.

Lee’s attorney, Salvador Alva of Huntington Park, refused to comment on the case, saying only that Lee has been in a “great deal of pain” from knife slashes she suffered to her abdomen. Alva denied speculation by Sheriff Sherman Block that Lee’s wounds may have been self-inflicted.

“There’s a 21-inch scar, and I don’t know whether it was from surgery or from the wound itself, but those wounds were clearly not self-inflicted,” according to Alva, who said he will represent Lee only through the preliminary hearing scheduled for June 15.

Approximately 15 minutes after the killings, Lee phoned for help from a Hollywood Freeway emergency call box about four miles from the death scene, saying she had been stabbed by a robber.

But last week, sheriff’s investigators arrested Lee and her boyfriend, Paul Carasi, 30, son of Doris Carasi and former boyfriend of Salinas.

Carasi, who said he was present but unconscious during the attack, was released from custody Monday after prosecutors refused to charge him with murder, citing insufficient evidence. Sheriff’s investigators have said, however, that they still consider him a suspect and are seeking more evidence.

“The investigation was further along as to Miss Lee,” Gilligan said. “As to Mr. Carasi, there’s a lot more investigation that needs to be done.”

Lee initially told investigators that she was stabbed by a robber who accosted her alongside the freeway after she pulled over because she felt ill. But she later changed her story and said she was stabbed at CityWalk.

California Highway Patrol officers found a bloody butcher knife, bloody clothing, a purse belonging to Salinas and fanny packs belonging to Doris and Paul Carasi near Lee’s car. She has not explained how they got there, sheriff’s investigators have said. Investigators have speculated that she was trying to get rid of the items beside the freeway but accidentally locked herself out of her car.

*

Sheriff’s investigators also released new details Tuesday on the relationship among Lee, Paul Carasi and the victims.

Sheriff’s Sgt. Mike Robinson said Salinas “was apparently upset with Paul because of the relationship with Donna” and that there was a custody problem between Paul Carasi and Salinas over their child, a 2-year-old boy named Michael.

Robinson also said that there was “a rub” between Lee and Salinas, but said it did not appear to be an “intense jealousy.” Lee, Salinas and Paul Carasi all worked together at a Bank of America data-processing center in Los Angeles.

Sheriff’s investigators said they have also learned of a running dispute between Paul and Doris Carasi. And neighbors have said that Doris Carasi fought with Lee several weeks before the stabbing.

Deputy Barbara McWilliams said Salinas and young Michael were frequent visitors to Doris Carasi, but did not actually live in her North Hollywood apartment--located just two doors away from one shared by Paul Carasi and Lee. Neighbors had said earlier that Salinas and her child lived with Doris Carasi.

“The relationship between Sonia and Doris was bonded by Michael,” McWilliams said. “That was what kept Sonia visiting there. . . . She was not living there.”

McWilliams said that Doris Carasi cared for her grandson while Salinas was hospitalized for a lengthy period of time following her pregnancy, but that prior to the stabbings Salinas and her son lived with Salinas’ family in the Whittier area.

Several members of Lee’s family, including her parents, attended her arraignment Tuesday and told a crowd of reporters that they came simply to observe.

“I’m just here to get a good look at what’s going on,” said Lee’s father, who refused to give his name. He did not look at Lee as she entered the courtroom. Lee glanced over at her family several times, exchanging stares with her mother.