LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Two of three people charged in the death of a Canadian tourist who was in the U.S. to attend the Kentucky Derby have entered not guilty pleas in the case.
Police have said 49-year-old Scott Hunter of Toronto was shot to death while trying to fight off three people who robbed him at random after he attended the famed horse race.
Nineteen-year-old Tyrone Thomas Jr. and his 20-year-old girlfriend, Fatima Abu-Diab, appeared Tuesday in Jefferson District Court to answer charges in Hunter's death.
A judge set bond at $500,000 each.
According to police records, Thomas is accused of firing the fatal shots, and Abu-Diab is accused of driving the getaway car. Police say her brother, Fahed Abu-Diab, also was involved.
Each faces charges of murder and a dozen counts of armed robbery.
Police believe the three committed a string of armed robberies Friday and Saturday around hotels and apartment complexes, coinciding with the 141st running of the Kentucky Derby.
Police have said Hunter and a friend were walking back to their Louisville hotel, hours after the Derby, when they were robbed.
The robbery appeared to be random, and Hunter was shot during a struggle with the attackers, police said.