Alejandro Avila, center, at Friday's arraignment.

Samantha Runnion                                                  Cheated out of life

SANTA ANA, California (CNN) -- The man accused of kidnapping, sexually abusing and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion pleaded innocent Friday in a Southern California courtroom.   Alejandro Avila filed the pleas before State Court Judge Ronald Kreber. The judge set September 16 as the date for a preliminary examination in which the prosecution will present evidence for binding Avila over for trial.

Avila's public defender, Denise Gragg, asked for that date after complaining she has not yet been informed of what evidence the prosecution wants to offer and needs the time to prepare.   Prosecutors, who wanted to go ahead with the preliminary examination, objected, saying some prosecution evidence had been turned over and more would be given soon, but the disclosure of evidence would probably take three months.

Kreber said he believed the delay until September 16 was reasonable.   Gragg also put the court on notice that she may ask for a change of venue in the highly publicized case.    Avila, 27, faces first-degree murder charges in the killing of Samantha, whom he is accused of abducting July 15 outside her Stanton, California, home. Medical authorities determined the child was sexually assaulted before her death.

The charges include two counts of forcible lewd conduct upon a child younger than 14.    Less than 24 hours after her disappearance, a passer-by discovered Samantha's nude body on a rural road about 50 miles from her home.   In addition to the counts against Avila, prosecutors have alleged three special circumstances, each of which could make him eligible for the death penalty. They are that Avila killed Samantha during the commission of two lewd acts and during the commission of a kidnapping.

Avila, who is being held without bond, has told investigators he was at a mall in San Bernardino County around the time of Samantha's abduction. But a source has told CNN multiple calls from Avila's cell phone and numerous credit card purchases place Avila in nearby south Orange County, where Samantha lived.

Investigators have also said that DNA evidence found on the girl's body matches that of Avila.  In a separate development, The Associated Press reported Friday that one of two girls whom Avila was accused of molesting earlier has made additional claims against him. Avila was acquitted of the earlier charges, which involved the 9-year-old daughter of an ex-girlfriend and a second girl, also 9.

The Riverside County Sheriff's Department is interviewing the girl and other potential witnesses to determine if there is enough evidence to bring a new case against Avila.

Samantha was playing a board game with her 5-year-old friend, when a man (Pictured left) drove up in a light green Honda.  The two children were sitting on a short wall about 150 feet from Samantha's home. The man got out of his car next to the girls and asked them for help finding his dog.

Samantha was sexually assaulted and asphyxiated before her body was dumped in neighboring Riverside County near two-lane Highway 74 on the edge of the Cleveland National Forest, about 50 miles from Stanton. The road is a heavily traveled route between the two counties.

An autopsy confirmed Samantha Runnion of Stanton was sexually assaulted and the cause of death, which occurred sometime Tuesday, 16-JUL-2002.   Authorities confirmed that Alejandro Avila, 27, has been arrested on suspicion of kidnapping and killing 5-year-old Samantha Runnion

Samantha talked to the man before he grabbed her and drove off.  The abduction
occurred in Stanton, located 25 miles southeast of Los Angeles. The city is a mix of
industrial sites, single-family homes and apartments