(AP) - The suspect in last week's fatal shooting of a 15-year-old while he slept in his bed has pleaded not guilty.

Terrance Perry was arraigned Wednesday morning in state Superior Court in Newark.

The 19-year-old Perry is charged with aggravated manslaughter and weapons offenses in the death of 15-year-old Bukhari Washington.

Perry has told police he was handling a semiautomatic assault rifle in his apartment when it fired accidentally, sending a bullet through the ceiling and into the apartment where Washington was sleeping.

Perry says he acquired the gun for protection.

Newarkteen shot, killed while asleep