Frazer Harrison/Getty ImagesUPDATE: On May 26, a judge lowered Berry's bail to $2.1 million. The accused murderer's attorney had asked for $1 million, saying his client is a college graduate with no prior arrests who fired a gun at Dolla in self-defense.
"I can't understand why he believed that he needed to fire a weapon at the Beverly Center," countered Deputy District Attorney Bobby Grace, who also questioned why the suspect fled the scene instead of sticking around to explain himself to police.
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The man accused of gunning down Dolla says he's innocent.
Aubrey Louis Berry, the 23-year-old music promoter arrested after the up-and-coming rapper was fatally shot at a Los Angeles, pleaded not guilty this morning in Los Angeles Criminal Court, a district attorney spokeswoman tells E! News.
Berry has been held on $5 million bond since he was taken into custody Monday as he tried to board a flight at LAX. He has been charged with murder and two counts of assault with a firearm for allegedly shooting at two of Dolla's associates.
Following a brief hearing yesterday, Berry attorney Howard R. Price told reporters that his client was innocent and had acted in self-defense, believing Dolla was about to hurt him.
"The allegations are not going to be proven. This is not a murder case. At worst, this is a manslaughter case," Price said.
Investigators say the 21-year-old rapper, in L.A. to lay down tracks for his debut album, was unarmed at the time of the slaying.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, bad blood may have been the motive behind the shooting. Dolla (real name Roderick Burton) and Berry had gotten into a shouting match at an Atlanta strip club. "It was a stupid, silly incident that should've never escalated to this point," Berry told the newspaper.
A preliminary hearing and bail review is scheduled for Tuesday.