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Suspect in UA murder enters not guilty plea
04:40 PM MST on Thursday, September 20, 2007
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- An 18-year-old woman indicted for first-degree murder in the death of her University of Arizona roommate pleaded not guilty Thursday.
Freshman Galareka Harrison's public defender entered the not guilty plea on her behalf during a brief hearing in a Tucson courtroom.
Harrison appeared via closed-circuit television from the Pima County Jail.
Indicted last week by a Pima County grand jury, she's charged in the Sept. 5 stabbing death of fellow Navajo tribal member Mia Henderson, also 18 and a freshman.
The death of Henderson, a promising student from Tuba City, and the arrest of Harrison, from Chinle, has had a wrenching impact upon members of the Navajo Nation, whose reservation sprawls across 27,000 square miles of Arizona, New Mexico and Utah.
Assistant Public Defender John O'Brien also entered not guilty pleas for Harrison to four other felony charges she faces, including three counts of forgery for allegedly writing checks that belonged to Henderson and one count of identity theft for using a third student's ID as her own.
Harrison did not comment beyond giving her name. Her mother, sister and two other family members were in the courtroom but left the courthouse with O'Brien immediately afterward.
O'Brien and Deputy County Attorney Rick Unklesbay declined comment.
Pima County Superior Court hearing officer Roger Duncan set a hearing for 10:30 a.m. on Oct. 2 before Judge Nanette Warner on Unklebay's motion to increase Harrison's bail from $50,000 to $1 million.
A Tucson City Court judge rejected a request by the county attorney's office two weeks ago for a high bail, setting the amount at $50,000.
Unklesbay's motion said the $50,000 bond "is uncommonly low for first-degree murder," and that Harrison had minimal ties to Pima County.
Campus police responding to a report of early-morning screams Sept. 5 at a university residence hall found both roommates with stab wounds. Henderson was pronounced dead a short time later at University Medical Center.
On Aug. 28, Henderson had filed a complaint with campus police, accusing her roommate of theft and forgery. She said Harrison had stolen her Social Security card and a debit card and that a check written for $500 that she did not authorize had been cashed.
According to a police affidavit filed in support of a search warrant after the stabbing, a day after the complaint was filed Harrison admitted to the theft and to using another student's stolen ID as her own.
A probable cause statement filed by another university detective said Harrison bought a knife on returning to campus after the Labor Day holiday.
The statement said she then wrote a note pretending to be Henderson; the note said she had falsely accused her roommate and "mentioned ending her own life," before Harrison stabbed Henderson repeatedly as she slept.
© 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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