SLIPPERY ROCK — The defendant in a homicide case pleaded not guilty at a Wednesday preliminary hearing.

District Judge William O'Donnell moved forward the sole charge of homicide against Paris E. Carter, 22, of Downingtown, Chester County, who appeared in court with public defender Michael McFarland.

Carter was escorted by Butler County Sheriff's deputies to the court from the Butler County Prison where he is being held without the possibility of bond.

Carter is charged in the killing of David A. Hines, 38, of New Castle, whose body was found May 17 in his vehicle along Portersville Road near Route 422 and Interstate 79 in Muddy Creek Township. Hines was shot in the head.

The prosecution, led by Assistant District Attorney Robert Zanella, called two witnesses to testify Wednesday.

The first witness, Tashane Henry of New Castle, said he was driving the vehicle when the alleged shooting took place. He said he was hosting friends Dante Carter and Paris Carter, who are brothers, after they arrived May 14.

Henry said the brothers were arranging to live in one of Hines' homes. He said that the day of Hines' death, he and the Carters went looking for a bar. Henry said he called Hines, who's also known as “Chop.”“I called him because I couldn't find the specific bar he introduced me to,” Henry said.During cross-examination, McFarland established that both Hines and Paris Carter had 9 mm guns concealed in their waistbands at the bar. Both belonged to Hines.“We all sat down, ate chicken and had a few drinks,” Henry said.Hines invited him to go to Pittsburgh with him to visit a friend, Henry said. The four left in Hines' vehicle, met the friend and turned around and headed back toward New Castle.Henry said that before leaving the city, Hines asked him to drive the car. He added that Hines handed a gun to Paris Carter in the car.Hines was seated in the front-passenger seat with Dante Carter seated behind him and Paris Carter behind Henry.

Three shotsHenry said as he drove, no one was arguing. He heard Hines and Carter talking in normal tones.“I heard a shot. I turn and see Dave turn and look back. Then another one came and that's the one that hit him,” Henry said. “He's shooting my friend, Chop. Three shots.”Henry said he started questioning Paris Carter's actions, and struggled to control the vehicle.Henry said Paris Carter asked him to pull over and began driving. Henry said he did not know the motive behind the shooting.“In his eyes, he's a gangster. That's what he wanted to be,” he said. “He's just a psycho.”Shortly after Paris Carter began driving, he lost control of the vehicle, and the three men exited it.The vehicle was later discovered by a passerby, who spoke to the Eagle anonymously, and said they saw Hines' body in the vehicle with a seatbelt on and a cell phone on the seat.Henry said after ditching the vehicle, the men walked through the woods.McFarland asked if Henry tried to call the police. Henry said he did not because he was afraid of Paris Carter, who he believed still had a gun.

Henry said the men walked to a campground more than a mile away from the crime scene to be picked up.He said Dante Carter called Henry's girlfriend, Angelina Lopez, for a ride.Lopez testified Wednesday that Dante Carter told her a story about a vehicle breaking down and the tow truck driver not being able to take them.Lopez said she drove the men back to her home, which she shares with Henry. She said it was tense and quiet, and Dante Carter said it was due to a disagreement.When they arrived home, Henry said he and the brothers went inside, removed their clothes and placed them in a dumpster nearby.Henry said he wanted to tell Lopez, but was conflicted, so he told Paris Carter to tell her what he'd done.Lopez said Henry prodded him to tell her about the killing. “Tell her you killed Chop. Tell her you killed Chop,” said Lopez, quoting Henry.Lopez said Paris Carter was pacing.“(Paris Carter) said he had to down him,” Lopez said. “He asked me to get his phone (at the crime scene), but Dante said the cops were there already.”Henry and Lopez said they spent an uncomfortable night under the same roof with the brothers.

Henry said that at one point during their conversation, Paris Carter mentioned wanting to go to Atlanta, but first the brothers were taken to Philadelphia by Henry and Lopez.“Get your (expletive) kids. Get them in the car,” she said, quoting Paris Carter.Lopez said she and Henry rode in the front seats of her van. She said Paris Carter rode in the back seat with the youngest of her four children.At one point during the trip, they were pulled over by state police. During cross-examination, McFarland asked if she tried to alert them about Paris Carter.She said she didn't because as the trooper walked toward the vehicle, Paris Carter tossed the gun under the seat of her child. She said he was acting paranoid and asking why they were stopped.“I was scared,” Lopez said. “What if he shot all of us, and then he shoots the trooper?”The couple dropped the brothers off, and then took their children to visit grandparents in the Philadelphia area before returning home the next day.Henry said Hines' brother called him, and he told him what took place. He said he and Lopez spoke with police a day later.Paris Carter and Raylene McDaniels, 24, were arrested by U.S. marshals near Philadelphia on May 26. According to news reports, the two were charged in the alleged May 20 shooting of a fellow passenger in a Lyft. McDaniels' relationship to Carter is unclear.Paris Carter, McDaniels and the unidentified man entered the Lyft together, reports said. The victim was sitting in the front-passenger seat when he was shot.

Following testimony, McFarland argued the prosecution currently has a homicide charge in place for Paris Carter, but it aligns more with homicide in the third degree.A third-degree charge would afford Paris Carter the opportunity for bond.“The commonwealth is trying to bootstrap all these degrees together,” McFarland said.Zanella said the testimony showed Paris Carter intentionally killed Hines, which makes the current charge valid.“He shot three times. Shooting someone in the head is a pretty intentional act,” Zanella said. “I think we have more than enough for first-degree murder.”Paris Carter will next appear for a formal arraignment in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas. A date for that hearing was not available Wednesday.