Strip Club Murder Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

The man accused of killing three people inside a northern New Jersey strip club last Christmas has pleaded not guilty to murder and aggravated assault charges.

The Star-Ledger reports 19-year-old Anthony Fields of Newark entered his pleas during a court hearing Tuesday. The judge also maintained his bail at $2 million.

Fields was arrested last month at his mother's home in Orlando, Fla. He faces three counts of murder and two counts of aggravated assault in the shooting at Slick's Go Go Bar in Irvington, about 15 miles west of New York City.

Authorities have said the shooting occurred when Fields apparently tried to enter the bar with a gun but was stopped by a bouncer.

The three men killed included the club owner's son, Pierre Clervoyant, 34, of Elizabeth, and a club employee, Woodley Daniel, 32, of Irvington. The other man slain was 27-year-old Mushir Curetonnot of Newark, who police have said appeared to be an unintended target.

Two other men were wounded in the shooting, but both are expected to recover from their wounds.

Slick's is located in an industrial area of Irvington, a few blocks from the Garden State Parkway. Roughly 100 people were in the club when the shooting occurred.

The killings were part of a spate of violence that plagued that region during the holiday season.

(Copyright 2014 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)