More than 10 years after the death of Lexie Castile, the man accused of shooting her appeared in Erie County Court for a preliminary hearing.

The defendant, Anthony D’Onofrio, pleaded not guilty.

The courtroom heard testimony from several members of law enforcement who were on the scene the day Castile was shot. Anthony D’Onofrio, 35, is accused of fatally shooting his finance Lexie Castile, 20, in September of 2012.

After being extradited from Washington state last month, D’Onofrio appeared in Erie County court for a preliminary hearing Thursday. Several members of local law enforcement took the stand to describe what happened the night of Lexie Castile’s death.

One City of Erie police officer who was first on scene testified that Lexie Castile was still alive when she arrived at the home in the 1100 block of West 24th Street.

Sarah Schardt testified when she got to the scene around midnight, Lexie Castile was struggling to breathe as EmergyCare responded to the victim, she found Anthony D’Onofrio and took him to the police station to be interviewed.

Dennis Oborski, a detective for the City of Erie Police Department, testified that he interviewed D’Onofrio in 2012. D’Onofrio told police Lexi Castile used his gun to shoot herself in the head.

He’s pleading not guilty to homicide charges

Ken Kensill from the Erie Police Department crime scene unit testified that the autopsy indicates that the victim suffered a gunshot wound to her head. However, he described the wound as atypical for a self inflicted gunshot.

During cross examination, Kensill confirmed Castile’s DNA was found on the trigger of the gun. The DNA of an unknown profile was also found on the gun.

Following the testimony, all of the charges against D’Onofrio were bound over to trial.