SEATTLE — A 26-year-old member of the U.S. military accused of fatally shooting two women and wounding three other people at a music festival at Washington state’s Gorge Amphitheatre has entered not guilty pleas to multiple charges.
The Seattle Times reports James M. Kelly pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of first-degree assault and one count of first-degree domestic violence assault in the shooting at the Beyond Wonderland electronic dance music festival, according to Grant County Superior Court documents.
Seattle couple Brandy Escamilla and Josilyn Ruiz died in the June 17 shooting.
A public defender was assigned to Kelly, whose next court appearance is set for July 25. A trial was set for late August, and Kelly could face a sentence of up to life in prison, court documents said. He remains lodged in the county jail without bail.
Kelly told detectives he took psychedelic mushrooms June 17 that caused him to hallucinate. A woman he was dating who was also shot recalled him saying he thought the world was ending, according to probable cause documents. Kelly then went to his truck to get a gun and shot the two women, documents say. He also shot the woman he was dating, another person attending the festival and an employee, the documents allege.
Kelly, an active member of the U.S. Army at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in western Washington, alleges his hallucinations might have led…
