Quadruple Homicide Suspect Pleads Not Guilty

A 31-year-old felon pleaded not guilty Thursday to murder and other charges stemming from the shooting deaths of two women and two men outside a Northridge boarding home.

Ka Pasasouk, 31, is charged with four counts of murder for the Dec. 2 slayings of Amanda Ghossein, 24, of Monterey Park; Jennifer Kim, 26, of Montebello; Robert Calabia, 34, of Los Angeles; and Teofilo Navales, 49, of Castaic.

The criminal complaint includes the special circumstance allegation of multiple murders. Prosecutors will decide later whether to seek the death penalty against Pasasouk, who also faces five counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and one count each of attempted murder and possession of a firearm by a felon.

He is due back in court May 16, when a date is expected to be set for a preliminary hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial.

Pasasouk was arrested in Las Vegas one day after the killings, and later returned to Los Angeles.

On Dec. 19, he was ordered held without bail for allegedly violating his probation in a drug case and the terms of his release from an earlier prison term.

Questions were raised after Pasasouk's arrest about why he was not in custody at the time of the killings. Despite requests by probation officers last September that he be jailed, Pasasouk was permitted to enter a drug- diversion program in his methamphetamine possession case.

The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office conducted an internal review into the handling of the case and conceded that a mistake was made.

Pasasouk -- who has multiple convictions dating back to 2004 -- had been released from prison in January 2012.