Two teens plead innocent in death of one's ex-girlfriend
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Posted 12:29PM on Saturday, June 1, 2002
AUGUSTA - A teen-ager accused of killing his ex-girlfriend because he believed she was pregnant has pleaded innocent. <br>
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Matthew John Wiedeman, now 17, entered the plea Friday in Richmond County Superior Court. His friend, 17-year-old Raymond Anthony Soto, also is charged with the murder and pleaded innocent. <br>
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They are charged with malice murder in the death of Stephanie Nicole Burnett, who was beaten and stabbed to death April 22 after being lured out of her house. <br>
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Burnett's brother found her body in a parking lot next to their south Augusta house, police said. The 16-year-old had been beaten with a solid-steel dumbbell and stabbed repeatedly. <br>
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Wiedeman and Soto, two high school dropouts who lived with Wiedeman's father, have been held without bond since their arrests in April. <br>
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Prosecutors said a trial date could be set as early as July. Both teens will be tried as adults and would face a mandatory life sentence if convicted.