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LAS VEGAS (AP) — A 46-year-old Las Vegas man pleaded not guilty Wednesday and was given a Feb. 22 trial date on felony murder and firing a weapon into a vehicle charges in the shotgun death of his neighbor.
James Stapleton's public defender, Nancy Lemcke, declined to say whether her client would claim self-defense in the fatal shooting May 7 of Giancarlo John Banova.
Police say Banova shot first, firing at least six shots with a .380-caliber handgun out the window of his pickup truck, wounding Stapleton in the chest and arm.
Stapleton is seen on home security video firing four shotgun blasts into a pickup truck where the 60-year-old Banova was killed.
The Clark County coroner says Banova died May 14 of shotgun wounds to the head. His death was ruled a homicide.
The video was played Monday for a Las Vegas justice of the peace who ruled there was enough evidence for Stapleton to stand trial in Clark County District Court. Stapleton could face life in prison if he is convicted.
Stapleton and Banova argued several times before the shooting, according to a police arrest report. Stapleton also text-messaged his ex-girlfriend before the shooting, saying that he was going to wait for and confront his neighbor, he had bullets and a shotgun and there wouldn't be any mistakes, police said.
Stapleton was treated at a hospital for his wounds and is being held without bail at the Clark County jail in Las Vegas pending trial.
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