A 66-year-old homeless man pleaded not guilty today to charges that he fatally stabbed a 72-year-old man on a Metro train in downtown Long Beach earlier this month.
Cary Odel Singletary, sitting in a wheelchair and wearing a bright yellow jail-issued shirt, responded with “yes, sir” and “OK” when addressing Judge Alfred Coletta on Wednesday inside Long Beach Superior Court.
He’s charged with murdering 72-year-old James Plummer, of South Gate, during an altercation inside a Metro car. He’s also facing a charge of assault with a deadly weapon — a knife.
If convicted, he faces life in prison, according to prosecutors.
The alleged attack at about 5 a.m. on April 1, according to authorities. A train operator called 911 for help after spotting Plummer lying on the Metro station platform on Pacific Avenue near Fifth Street, authorities said.
Police used security camera footage from inside the car and outside nearby businesses to track down Singletary and arrest him the following day, about four blocks from where the stabbing occurred.
When he was booked into jail at the Long Beach Police Department, Singletary listed a post office in Santa Ana as his home address, according to jail records.
Investigators are still looking into what sparked the stabbing, but they do not believe Singletary and Plummer knew each other.
When asked outside of the courtroom, a prosecutor declined to provide further details on what preceded the stabbing.
A search warrant filed the same day as the stabbing reportedly reveals Singletary’s movements in the minutes before the deadly altercation.
Police said that security camera footage and interviews with nearby businesses show that Singletary had left Long Beach Memorial Hospital shortly before getting on the train.
Detectives filed the search warrant to get his name and other identifying information from the hospital.
Singletary remains held on $1.03 million bail and is due back in court on June 9.