EDINBURG — A 23-year-old Alton man entered a not guilty plea to a charge of capital murder of multiple persons stemming from a November shooting that left two men dead.
Oscar Armando Velasquez appeared in court Thursday morning for arraignment on an indictment issued by a grand jury last week charging him with capital murder of multiple persons and three counts of criminal attempted murder, to which he also entered not guilty pleas.
Velasquez has been in custody since Nov. 17 when Alton police arrested him at the Hidalgo-Reynosa International Bridge for the fatal shootings of 34-year-old Carlos Perez and 25-year-old Eduardo Rodriguez in the 900 block of Jefferson Street in Alton on Nov. 8.
The man faces life in prison without parole if convicted of capital murder of multiple persons. He is also eligible for the death penalty.
The State has not made an announcement on whether it will seek the death penalty.
A short probable cause affidavit filed by an Alton Police Department investigator alleges an argument between a group of people led to the shooting.
Little information about the shooting has been released.
Velasquez remains jailed on $2.5 million in bonds.
