Court hearing held for man accused of killing girlfriend

CROWN POINT, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana magistrate entered a not guilty plea on behalf of a man charged in the death of a Gary, Indiana woman who disappeared last month after attending a concert in Illinois.

James E. McGhee is charged with murder in the death of 27-year-old Sidney-Nichole Buchanan, a mother of three. Authorities say after the July 27 concert in Tinley Park, they believe the 38-year-old McGhee took Buchanan back to his apartment in Gary where he beat her to death. Her body was found Monday in the Thornton-Lansing Road Nature Preserve in Illinois.

Prosecutors say McGhee was on probation for the beating of his girlfriend at the time of the alleged attack on Buchanan.

McGhee's attorney Jamise Perkins, who also represented him in the prior case, told reporters she successfully argued there were barriers going to trial in 2017. She added he wouldn't have been given probation if he was responsible.