Man Pleads Not Guilty to Killing Wife

A man has pleaded not guilty to that he last month.

Kelvin Green, 52, faces one count each of murder and assault. The latter charge involves a good Samaritan who tried to get involved in the incident. (The Samaritan was not injured.)

Green will stay in jail in lieu of $1 million bail pending his next court appearance, which will take place Oct. 12 in a Los Angeles courthouse.

The incident, which is , happened on a Sunday afternoon at the  at 3105 Wilshire Blvd.

Customers said they saw a man stabbing the clerk—Christina Talley, 46—multiple times.

"It was horrifying," said a Santa Monica Patch reader who was shopping at the store at the time of the incident. The reader asked not to be identified.

Police investigators said the suspect entered the Albertsons and approached the clerk from behind while she was working at the checkout. He then started hitting her and stabbing her around the head, neck and upper torso.

The man then fled the store, heading southbound on Berkeley Street toward Wilshire Boulevard.

Though in critical condition, Talley was conscious when Santa Monica police arrived at the store. She was taken to a hospital and died the next morning.

Descriptions of the suspect resembled descriptions of Green, who was the same day Talley died. Green was treated at a local hospital for an unspecified medical illness.

"During the course of the investigation, Mr. Green was ultimately determined to be a suspect to the homicide," SMPD Sgt. Richard Lewis said.

City News Service contributed to this report.