The Region : Suspect Denies Killing 7-Year-Old Girl

Warren James Bland pleaded not guilty in Riverside County Superior Court to charges that he killed 7-year-old Phoebe Ho, who disappeared while walking to school in her South Pasadena neighborhood. A preliminary hearing was not immediately set for the 51-year-old convicted child molester. Bland was shot Feb. 9 while fleeing police in San Diego. He is being held without bail after his recovery at Riverside General Hospital. The Alhambra man was charged with murder in connection with the death of the girl, whose body was found Dec. 18 in a Glen Avon field 50 miles east of her home. She had been sexually assaulted and strangled. Bland is also a suspect in the kidnap slaying of Wendy Rachelle Osborn, 14, of Placentia, who disappeared last Jan. 20 while walking to school. Her body was found Feb. 1 in the Chino Hills area of San Bernardino County.