Carl Monty Watts Jr., a Miami man accused of gunning down his wife at a community pool in front of terrified children and parents, has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge via a public defended who was representing him.

According to the Miami Herald, Watts did not show up in court on Monday (April 25) to formally face the second-degree murder with a deadly weapon charge to killing 30-year-old Shandell Harris.

Harris’ brother, Ty’rel Harris, and father, Matthew Everett, did attend the brief hearing. “I wanted to make sure I’m present, to make sure he gets charged,” the latter told the newspaper.

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Police say Watts murdered Harris at the Michael-Ann Russell Jewish Community Center pool on the afternoon of August 3. A day earlier, Watts allegedly stabbed Harris when she threatened to leave him. The Herald reports that Harris reported the case to Miami police, but detectives hadn’t yet tracked him down when he confronted her at the pool, where she’d brought her young daughter for swim lessons.

According to a Miami-Dade police arrest report, Watts attempted to get Harris to withdraw the stabbing allegations before he opened fire. Private security guards immediately detained Watts, who acknowledged he stabbed his wife. He is also being charged with unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, tampering with a witness, aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and tampering with physical evidence.

Watts, 45, remains in jail and has a long history of domestic violence allegations and criminal convictions. He’s also a suspect in the murders of former lovers Vickie Simmons in 2009 and Trukita Scott, who is missing but whose parents believe is dead, in 2014.

Watts has not been charged in either of those cases and is not discussing either case of the Harris shooting with investigators, invoking his Fifth Amendment right to remain silent.