The man accused of killing the sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams pleaded innocent Tuesday.

A Jan. 15 pretrial hearing was scheduled for Aaron Michael Hammer. He could face life in prison if convicted of murdering Yetunde Price, 31, who was shot in September.

Price was a registered nurse and beauty shop owner. She also was a personal assistant to her sisters, who began their tennis careers in Compton before moving to Florida in their teens.

Hammer is charged with murder and with possession of a firearm by a felon because of previous convictions for check forgery and commercial burglary.

He is in custody on $1 million bail.

At an earlier hearing, a Los Angeles County sheriff's detective said Hammer acknowledged firing about six shots from a .22-caliber rifle during the shooting.

But prosecutors have said the shot that killed Price did not come from a .22-caliber weapon.

"He's not the one that fired the fatal shot. He shot independent of the person that fired the AK-47" that killed Price, defense attorney Michael Clark said after Tuesday's hearing.

An assault rifle was found after the shooting. No other arrests have been made.

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