Danyo R. Sellers, 17, left, appears for his arraignment Tuesday morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court on murder and other charges in the April 15 shooting death of Amya Monserrat, 15. Attorney Walter Ritchie represented Sellers during the hearing, but Sellers’ attorney is Michael Scala.

YOUNGSTOWN — Danyo R. Sellers, 17, pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court in the April 15 shooting death of Amya Monserrat, 15, outside of a Southern Boulevard tavern.

Magistrate Dennis Sarisky, who works for Judge Maureen Sweeney, accepted Sellers’ not guilty plea and continued Sellers’ bond at $500,000. Sellers appeared for the hearing in person, escorted to the courthouse by Mahoning County deputies.

Wearing the clothing of the Mahoning County Juvenile Justice Center, Sellers appears to still be in the custody of the juvenile justice center. He is not an inmate of the county jail, according to jail records.

Judge Theresa Dellick of Mahoning County Juvenile Court bound over the case against Sellers to adult court last month after holding a probable cause hearing in juvenile court that involved testimony from a co-defendant and a Youngstown police officer. Sellers was indicted in the adult-level common pleas court on murder, felonious assault and involuntary manslaughter, each with three gun specifications, and one count of improperly handling firearms in a motor vehicle.

If Sellers is convicted of murder, he could get a life prison sentence. Three specifications allege Sellers committed a drive-by shooting, which could add five years to Sellers’ sentence if he is convicted. Sellers was 16 at the time of the killing.

During the hearing in juvenile court, Sellers’ co-defendant, Saun Peterson, 21, testified he was the driver of the dark blue Mercedes Benz that drove around Martha’s Boulevard Bar and Grille several times the night of the killing and that Sellers was in the front passenger seat.

Peterson said he saw people in the crowd outside of the tavern with guns when he drove past and said Sellers fired a gun over the top of the Mercedes toward the crowd, which was on the driver’s side of the car.

Peterson pleaded guilty earlier in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court to involuntary manslaughter and other charges in the episode. Prosecutors are recommending that Peterson get 10 to 12 1/2 years in prison when he is sentenced.

Police have said the killing involved two groups of people shooting at each other over a conflict and that Amya was hit by a “stray bullet.”

Youngstown Police Detective Michael Cox testified at the juvenile court hearing that he acquired surveillance video from nearby St. Dominic Church that showed a dark Mercedes Benz driving around the tavern a couple of times. Cox said it was clear that there were adults in the tavern’s parking lot, and they were “doing the right thing to disperse the party” after people became alarmed by the Mercedes Benz.

The images of the car on video suggested that the driver was “antagonizing” or “taunting” the “fleeing kids” at the party, Cox said. Within 60 to 90 seconds, the Mercedes came back and “flashes” of light were detected on the video because “somebody was shooting a gun,” Cox said.

Amya was a freshman and a cheerleader at Valley Christian School on the South Side. Amya and others were at the tavern for a birthday party for a 16-year-old girl.