Not guilty plea from double murder suspect

Ellin “Omar” Escamilla pleaded not guilty to two counts of premeditated murder Thursday in a Salinas courtroom.

Escamilla is accused of brutally killing his parents November 15, 2016 at their home on Essex Court in Salinas. Escamilla elluded capture for seven weeks until he was arrested Jan. 3, 2017 in Los Angeles. Salinas police detectives transported him to Salinas and he was booked into Monterey County Jail, where he is being held on $2 million bail.

Escamilla will be back in court on January 18 at 10 a.m. to set a date for a preliminary hearing. He told the court Thursday that he plans to be represented by a Monterey County public defender.