Killing of Brother Denied : Courts: Eric Lamont Gunn, 22, pleads not guilty to charges that he fatally shot his half sibling, Rayshaun Love, 17.

Eric Lamont Gunn pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges he murdered his half brother. Earlier, he denied that he was even at the party when Rayshaun Love was fatally shot.

Love, 17, died early Sunday morning after being shot in the chest at a pay-to-enter party in Lancaster. More than 36 hours later, his brother was arrested in the slaying.

Martha Jordan, the mother of both Love and Gunn, wept in Lancaster Municipal Court, as did other family and friends, as Gunn was brought in for his first court appearance since his arrest Monday night.

Although family members are mourning the death of Love, after the arraignment Wednesday, Jordan vowed that they would stand behind Gunn.

“I love him; we’re going to be there for him, to support him in this matter,” Jordan said. And in a message to her jailed son, she said, “God is with you. Your mama loves you.”

Jordan has talked with Gunn on the telephone several times since his arrest, but Wednesday was the first time that she had seen him. Although Gunn was unable to speak to the family and friends present in the courtroom Wednesday, he nodded his head a couple times at each of them.

Gunn also pleaded not guilty to two counts of attempted murder and one charge of cocaine possession. He also denied special allegations that he used a handgun in committing the murder and attempted murder.

John K. Spillane, head deputy at the district attorney’s Antelope Valley office, said he was not surprised about Gunn’s plea.

In a recorded interview with homicide investigators after his arrest, Gunn denied being at the party at the time of the shooting, which besides fatally wounding Love, also left two men injured.

Darius Perry, 20, and Brian Donnell Macklin, 21, remain hospitalized in fair condition at Antelope Valley Hospital Medical Center in Lancaster.

Gunn is being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $950,000 bail. A preliminary hearing is set for Jan. 6. Meanwhile, the family is trying to raise funds to pay for Love’s funeral.

According to court records, Gunn brandished a small handgun after Perry accidentally spilled beer on Gunn’s shoes. From a distance of about four feet, Gunn shot Perry in the shoulder and “then fired the pistol several more times into the crowd of teen-agers” who were in a garage, records say.

Macklin suffered two gunshot wounds to his left hip. Love was fatally shot in the chest after reportedly shielding two teen-age girls from the gunfire, an act that prompted sheriff’s deputies to label him a hero.

Witnesses have also said there was a second gunman, although it is not known if that person actually fired any shots. No additional arrests have been made.

Spillane said the investigation is continuing and homicide detectives are hoping to talk to as many of the 100 people who were at the party as possible. Investigators talked to Gunn just hours after the shooting, believing that he was simply a witness to the incident. At that time, Gunn said he left the party at least an hour before the shooting, an assertion he also made after his arrest.

Anonymous callers and Perry, however, identified Gunn as as the shooter. He was arrested at the Lancaster apartment where his mother, sister LaTrice Gunn and Love lived with other relatives. A small amount of rock cocaine was allegedly found in Gunn’s possession at the time of the arrest.