American woman pleads not guilty in girl's death

The mother of a missing 5-year-old Arizona girl pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse charges Monday, court documents said. Jerice Hunter's attorney entered the pleas in Maricopa County, Ariz., Court after her arrest Thursday, a year after she reported her daughter, Jhessye Shockley, missing, KPHO-TV, Phoenix, reported. Authorities say they believe Hunter killed the girl and dumped her body in a Tempe, Ariz., trash bin. Investigators searched a landfill where they expected to find her body, but never found any remains of her, the television station said. Hunter is being held on $500,000, and her next court date was set for Nov. 1, court records said..