Third Harvard Shooting Suspect Enters Not Guilty Plea

MEDFORD, Mass.

A third suspect charged in a fatal Harvard University dormitory shooting was ordered held without bail Monday, and a prosecutor for the first time identified which defendant was the alleged shooter.

A not guilty plea was entered for Jason Aquino, 23, at his arraignment in Cambridge District Court on murder, armed robbery and other charges. Aquino was arrested in New York City last Thursday.

Aquino, Jabrai Jordan Copney and Blayn Jiggetts are accused in the May 18 shooting of Justin Cosby, 21, in a common area at the Kirkland House dorm. Cosby died the following day.

Middlesex Assistant District Attorney Daniel Bennett revealed Monday that

investigators believe Jiggetts handed Copney a 9 mm handgun and that Copney shot Cosby during a struggle.

Copney and Jiggetts have been indicted on first-degree murder charges. The three suspects are from New York and prosecutors have said they intended to rob Cosby of marijuana and cash.

Neither the victim nor the defendants were Harvard students.

Copney’s Boston attorney, J.W. Carney, did not immediately return a call seeking comment on the allegations that his client was the shooter. Carney said during a previous court appearance that his client, a professional songwriter, was not guilty of first-degree murder.

Matthew Kamholtz, a lawyer who represented Aquino at Monday’s arraignment, told The Boston Globe that he was still learning details of the case but said his client did not have any criminal record that he was aware of.

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