A man accused of murder in 2016 pleaded not guilty on Wednesday to charges of shooting and killing Sgt. Steve Owen.

Trenton Trevon Lovell, 28, faces multiple charges — including murder — stemming from the 2016 shooting death of a Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department sergeant outside a Lancaster apartment complex.

Lovell is accused of killing Owen, 53, on Oct. 5, 2016. Prosecutors said Lovell shot Owen, then continued to shoot him when the lawman was already on the ground.

Owen, a decorated 29-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Department, was working out of the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station when he responded to a reported residential burglary on Avenue J.

Lovell faces a murder charge, which includes the special circumstance allegations of murder of a peace officer during the performance of his duties, and murder for the purpose of avoiding or preventing a lawful arrest, according to the criminal complaint filed by prosecutors.

He is also charged with one count of attempted murder, possession of a firearm by a felon, two counts of first-degree residential robbery and two counts of false imprisonment by violence.

The attempted murder charge includes an allegation that Lovell used a patrol car as a deadly and dangerous weapon.

The criminal complaint also alleges that Lovell was on parole at the time of the crime and that he had been convicted of robbery as a juvenile in 2006 and again as an adult in 2009.

During the preliminary hearing, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Zachary Anderson identified Lovell as the man he saw standing over Owen’s body outside the apartment complex.

Lovell has been held without bail since his arrest that day. Prosecutors will later determine whether to seek the death penalty.

Lovell is scheduled to return to court on Jan. 10, 2019 for a pretrial.

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