By Associated Press - Sunday, March 31, 2019

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) - A 54-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to killing a pastor’s wife and her two adult grandchildren nearly three years ago in Northern California.

The Sacramento Bee reports Jerod Watson was arraigned Friday on three counts of murder and special allegations of using a knife to commit the crimes.

He’s accused in the 2016 stabbing and slashing deaths of 68-year-old Christine Lucas and her grandchildren, 23-year-old Marquise Brown and 20-year-old James Ferrell.

Watson fled California after the slayings, sparking a nationwide manhunt that ended in Mississippi - where he was picked up on a panhandling charge in February 2017. He was brought back to Sacramento in April of that year.

Watson is being held without bail pending a May 31 pre-trial hearing.

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Information from: The Sacramento Bee, http://www.sacbee.com

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