YOUNGSTOWN — Courtney Hall, 30, of Akron, pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Youngstown Municipal Court to two counts of complicity to aggravated murder in the Feb. 29 shooting deaths of Sierra Morris, 25, and her father, Leroy Morris, 58.

John C. Bruner III, 30, the father of Sierra Morris’ 5-year-old child, was charged with aggravated murder earlier. The deaths took place during the daytime in the Morris’ West Judson Avenue home. Hall and Bruner shared the same Akron address.

Hall was arrested at her job at a jewelry store in Fairlawn, near Akron, on a murder warrant Tuesday and taken to the Mahoning County Adult Justice Center.

Kathy Thompson, assistant Youngstown law director, asked Judge Renee DiSalvo during Hall’s arraignment to set bond at $1 million because of allegations that Hall drove Bruner to the Morris home the day of the shootings and drove Bruner away afterward.

Thompson said Hall appeared to have “no criminal history,” but added that “two persons are dead as a result.” DiSalvo approved the $1 million bond.

Hall’s murder charges are the same as Bruner’s except they include the word complicity. The aggravated murder charges Hall and Bruner face both contain the possibility of the death penalty, law enforcement officials have said.

Youngstown Law Director Jeff Limbian said the decision on whether to seek the possibility of the death penalty will be made by Mahoning County Prosecutor Paul Gains when the case reaches the county level.

Bruner waived a preliminary hearing in Youngstown Municipal Court on March 9, and his case is awaiting action by a Mahoning County grand jury.

A Youngstown police report states Youngstown police asked the Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force to locate and arrest Hall, which it did.

Donna Morris, mother of Sierra Morris and wife of Leroy Morris, said Sierra and Bruner had their ups and downs over the past five years, and Bruner had threatened her in the couple of weeks before her death because he found out she had had gone out to a club.

erunyan@tribtoday.com