Keyes man pleads not guilty in Turlock fatal road rage incident

A Keyes man accused of murder in an alleged road rage incident in Turlock made his first courtroom appearance Tuesday afternoon.

Paris Roberts Jr., 20, pleaded not guilty to a charge of murder in the shooting death of Pablo Vargas Jr., 34, also of Keyes. Roberts also denied an enhancement alleging he fired the gun that killed Vargas.

Stanislaus Superior Court Judge Dawna Reeves set Roberts’ bail at $1 million. The defendant has been in custody at the county jail since his arrest Saturday.

The judge scheduled Roberts to return to court June 16 for a pretrial hearing.

About 9:30 a.m. Saturday, gunshots were reported in the 4500 block of North Golden State Boulevard, just south of Taylor Road in Turlock. Officers found Vargas in the road and injured with a gunshot wound. He was taken by an ambulance to a nearby hospital, where he died, according to Turlock police.

This story was originally published May 24, 2016 at 2:24 PM with the headline "Keyes man pleads not guilty in Turlock fatal road rage incident."