The Benton man accused of killing a Fairfield man late last year has pleaded not guilty.
Raheem Shamar Goodwin, 22, entered his plea Tuesday in Somerset County Superior Court via videoconference, according to the Waterville Morning Sentinel.
Goodwin has been charged with murder, eluding police and violating bail conditions. The newspaper reported that a grand jury indicted him in January.
Goodwin allegedly killed 62-year-old Edwin Weeks at a Main Street residence, where Weeks was found dead on the afternoon of Nov. 28, 2023, when a friend came to check on him.
The Maine medical examiner’s office ruled his death a homicide and determined he died from “sharp force trauma.”
Goodwin, who knew Weeks and was a person of interest in the case, was found in Skowhegan driving toward Canaan on Route 2, where he drove himself off the road and into a ditch when police tried to pull him over that same night, police have said.
Goodwin barricaded himself inside the vehicle before lighting its interior on fire, according to police.
Police removed Goodwin from the vehicle and took him to the Somerset County Jail in East Madison, where he remains in custody.
Goodwin allegedly believed that Weeks was a sex offender, according to a police affidavit. Weeks was not on the Maine Sex Offender Registry.
His case could go to trial as early as next February, the Sentinel reported.
