Man charged in killing of Minn. student in Ariz. pleads not guilty

The 22-year-old man charged in the beating death of an Arizona State University junior from Minnesota pleaded not guilty to first-degree, premeditated murder Wednesday morning, KPHO in Phoenix reported.

Luis Soltero, 22, has been described as the former boyfriend of Rebecca Kasper, a 19-year-old 2011 graduate of Northfield High School, who was a marketing major at ASU. A funeral was held Saturday in Northfield.

Luis Soltero

Her body was found in Soltero's Tempe apartment on April 23. Soltero was arrested that day and later charged with first-degree murder.

Tempe police have said Soltero went to a police station to report Kasper's death. Officers went to the apartment and found Kasper's body in a bathtub, covered with blankets, coffee grounds and a rubber mat, and a plastic bag over her head, the Associated Press reported.

Soltero is next due back in court June 24.