Man Held in Shooting of Child Pleads Not Guilty
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A man accused of wounding a 3-year-old girl while shooting at her mother pleaded not guilty Monday to attempted murder charges.
Juan Manolo Cienfuegos, 24, of Tujunga faces a preliminary hearing in Van Nuys Municipal Court on Aug. 3. He is being held in County Jail on $2.1 million bail.
Injuries received by the child, Vanessa Barcenas, were not life-threatening, and she is recovering, police said. She was shot Thursday afternoon outside the Saticoy Plaza apartment complex in Reseda. Police said the apparent motive was an ongoing dispute between the child’s mother, Eileen Cortez, 21, and Cienfuegos’ former girlfriend, Christina Stevens, also 21.
Cienfuegos apparently was helping Stevens move furniture out of her former apartment when the dispute escalated. Police said Ciefuegos fired five or six shots into a group of people outside the complex in the 17800 block of Saticoy Street.
Cienfuegos has been charged with four counts of attempted murder and a single charge of causing great bodily injury.
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