A 20-year-old Westbrook man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges of murder and elevated aggravated assault in connection with a shooting at a recording studio in Portland’s Old Port that killed one man and seriously wounded another.
Johnny Ouch, dressed in a yellow jail uniform, stood silently in the courtroom at the Cumberland County Courthouse in Portland as his attorney, Amy Fairfield, entered the pleas on his behalf.
Ouch was arrested Thursday morning at his home at 73 East Valentine St. in Westbrook on a warrant after being indicted in secret by a grand jury on July 10.
He is accused of fatally shooting Treyjon Arsenault, 19, around midnight on May 25 at Da Block Studios Inc., an independent studio at the corner of Market and Fore streets.
The second man who was shot that night at the recording studio, Mohamed Ali, 21, was publicly identified for the first time in the two-page indictment unsealed Friday.
Justice Joyce Wheeler ordered at the brief court hearing that Ouch continue to be held without bail at the Cumberland County Jail in Portland.
Fairfield reserved the right to argue that bail should be set at a later hearing. Fairfield said that although Ouch has been indicted, the Attorney General’s Office has yet to release any details to her about the police case against her client.
Ouch’s mother, sisters, brother and girlfriend all attended the court hearing and spoke with Fairfield for about half an hour afterward, then left the courthouse without speaking to the news media.
Fairfield said Ouch is the youngest of eight children and is originally from Fresno, California. He is a U.S. citizen of Cambodian descent.
Ouch and Ali, the shooting victim who survived, were acquaintances who both attended Deering High School in Portland, Fairfield confirmed.
Police have said previously that they were seeking more than one suspect in the shooting, but have declined to identify anyone other than Ouch.
Assistant Attorney General Deborah Cashman, who is prosecuting the case, declined to comment on the case or the possibility of further arrests as she left the courthouse.
“There is no other public indictment at this time,” Cashman said as she left with Portland police Detective Richard Beaumont.
Portland police Lt. James Sweatt, a spokesman for the department, said Friday afternoon that there had been no further developments in the investigation and declined to comment further.
The indictment against Ouch revealed no other new information about the investigation. All other court records in the case remained impounded by a judge’s order.
Arsenault, a Westbrook High School graduate living in Scarborough, was shot multiple times in the abdomen and pronounced dead at Maine Medical Center in Portland shortly after the shooting. Ali is still recovering from a gunshot wound, Portland Police Chief Michael Sauschuck said Thursday after announcing Ouch’s arrest.
Ali has not responded to phone messages last month and this week seeking comment.
Before Thursday’s arrest, Ouch had only one offense on his adult criminal record, for driving without a license in 2012. At the time, Ouch was still a juvenile but prosecutors chose to charge him as an adult. He pleaded guilty and was fined $100.
Arsenault had no criminal record, according to state records. His parents, Nancy and Donald Laxson, have said police told them that Arsenault was not the intended target of the shooting but was caught in the crossfire. Police have declined to confirm that.
Ali has an extensive criminal record, including an arrest on a felony robbery charge when he was 18. He was subsequently arrested on charges of assault, theft and violating the terms of his release while out on bail on pending cases. He was jailed most recently in February for repeated probation violations.
Ali was arrested most recently on April 18 in South Portland on charges of driving under the influence of drugs and violating bail conditions in three pending criminal cases. He pleaded not guilty to those charges and remains free on bail.
Ouch faces between 25 years to life in prison if convicted of murder. He faces up to 30 years in prison on the assault charge.
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