Prosecutors allege the killing of a Navy sailor stemmed from a nightclub fight

A man who allegedly shot and killed an 18-year-old Navy sailor in the East Village and then fled the state pleaded not guilty to murder Friday.

Ta'Kari Terell Benness, 20, was arrested Oct. 16 in St. Cloud, Minnesota, nearly two months after police said he shot and killed Albert Soto, an apprentice operations specialist sailor assigned to the San Diego-based Marine Corps Destroyer USS Pinckney was assigned.

Benness, who was extradited to San Diego last week, faces up to 50 years to life in state prison if convicted of murder and is also accused of using a weapon in the murder. He remains in custody without bail.

In arraigning Benness, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Carberry said Soto was at a club with his friends on the night of Aug. 30 when his group got into an argument with Benness and three other men.

According to San Diego Police Lt. Lou Maggi, the two groups eventually left the venue via separate exits but continued to argue outside at times for about half an hour.

Carberry said Benness and/or members of his group said something to the effect of, “I'm going to say the (expletive). I have my gun in the car.”

The prosecutor said Soto left but later returned and “called for a duel in retaliation for the fight that occurred at the club.” Benness then allegedly pulled out a gun and shot the victim. Soto was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

Carberry said Benness fled California on a Greyhound bus.

Police said Benness and the three men he was with were identified “through a combination of public and private security footage, license plate readers, witness interviews and tireless investigative work.” However, no information about the other three men has been publicly released.

Soto, a native of Queens, New York, reported for military service in San Diego in April, six months after he was enlisted, according to the Navy.