Plea Entered in Stabbings of Three Homeless People

The man accused of sticking knives into the backs of three homeless men and women as they slept entered a not guilty plea Wednesday to three counts of attempted murder.

Courtney Anthony Robinson, 37, entered his plea in downtown Los Angeles. He is being held in lieu of $3.03 million bail, online jail records show.

A preliminary hearing for a judge to determine if there's probable evidence for trial is scheduled for Aug. 6.

Robinson's arraignment was initially set for Tuesday, but he missed the hearing because of a medical issue, according to published reports.

Police arrested Robinson July 20 after he called 911 to claim responsibility for the crimes, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.

Officers had circulated photos of Robinson after tracking him down on social media websites through the alias of 'David Ben Keyes,' a name that he used on on signed death warrants left at the scenes, according to the LAPD.

Police then circulated Robinson's booking photo from a previous arrest, along with photos from the Keyes Facebook page, which lead to a slew of tips.

The victims were attacked in Hollywood, Los Angeles and Santa Monica.

The first attack was July 3 when Pawal Tabaku, 56, was stabbed near Main and Third streets in downtown Los Angeles. Two weeks later, William Charles, 59, was attacked while sleeping on a bus bench near the Third Street Promenade in Santa Monica. Roxane Henderson, 54, was stabbed in the back July 19 near La Brea and De Longpre avenues.

— City News Service contributed to this report.