Man accused of fatally stabbing Metro bus passenger pleads not guilty

A Glendale man accused of fatally stabbing a Metro bus passenger after an argument last month pleaded not guilty to the charge, officials said.

Allan Jay Milton, 43, was charged with one count of murder, with a special allegation that he personally used a knife, in connection with the stabbing death of Phillip Melendez, according to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office.

At around 10:40 p.m. on Nov. 9, the two were on a bus in South Los Angeles when Milton reportedly got into an argument with Melendez and fatally stabbed him.

It’s unclear if Milton and Melendez knew each other, and details about what they argued over were not available.

When the bus stopped, Milton reportedly fled. He was arrested the following afternoon in the area where the stabbing occurred, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.

After the stabbing, detectives released surveillance photographs of Milton and two other people thought to be connected to the incident, though the two others were subsequently identified and determined to just be witnesses, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Det. Tim O’Quinn.

Just minutes before the stabbing, Milton and those two witnesses had reportedly been involved in a separate fight with another person — whose identity is unknown — likely over the theft of a beer, O’Quinn said.

The stabbing, however, reportedly occurred separately, shortly after. The investigation remains ongoing.

Milton, who is being held in lieu of $1-million bail, faces 26 years to life in state prison if convicted.

He is due back in court in January.

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Alene Tchekmedyian, alene.tchekmedyian@latimes.com

Twitter: @atchek