CSPD

A Fort Carson soldier has pleaded not guilty in the shooting death of an unarmed man outside a Colorado Springs motorcycle club in early March.

Staff Sgt. Christopher Mountjoy, 31, was arrested a couple of weeks after the March 3 shooting.

Officers say that for victim Virgil Means, it was a tragic instance of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; Means had left the Sin City Deciples motorcycle clubhouse earlier on the night of March 3 after being beaten up by members of the club, and had only returned to the clubhouse to retrieve his wallet. Police say he was driving away with a friend when shots began firing in the direction of the car.

In an arraignment Thursday, Mountjoy pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and aggravated robbery. Mountjoy's public defender has indicated she may use post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury as a defense. Mountjoy returned from Afghanistan in 2011 after a year-long deployment.

Mountjoy is a member of the 1st Brigade Combat Team.