CHRISTIANSTED, U.S. Virgin Islands (AP) -- A firefighter pleaded innocent Wednesday to murder charges in the killings of his half brother, girlfriend and 2-month-old child.
Jose Carrillo, 33, appeared at his arraignment on the island of St. Croix flanked by his public defender, Stephen Brush, who requested a trial.
Carrillo faces three counts of murder in the May shooting deaths of girlfriend Natasha Cummings, a 31-year-old high school teacher, the couple's 2-month-old boy Thai, and Carrillo's half brother Wayne Walcott, 25.
The bodies were found in the couple's home in St. Croix on May 15, along with a 9-mm handgun. Cummings' body was in the bedroom, while Walcott was found on a couch. The baby, in his crib, was found with a single gunshot wound to the head.
Carrillo said nothing during the arraignment, but his mother collapsed as she left the courtroom and had to be helped by court employees and relatives.
The trial is to begin Oct. 4 with jury selection. Carrillo could face a sentence of life in prison on each murder count. There is no death penalty in the U.S. Caribbean territory.
Carrillo, who had been a firefighter for nine years, was suspended after his arrest in May.
