College Basketball Player Fatally Shot While Driving, Suspect Intended To Kill Female Who He Was In An On & Off Relationship With

A Massachusetts man was arrested for the murder of a college basketball player who was shot while driving.

Pena Canela, 18, pleaded not guilty Thursday. Authorities allege he fatally shot Carl-Hens Beliard Wednesday night, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported.

Prosecutors said the victim was in the car with a woman who was the intended target and was allegedly in an on-and-off-again relationship with Canela.

Canela reportedly told authorities he was looking for the woman and fired the shots, PEOPLE reported.

“It’s news to me that he allegedly stated he committed the murder,” Canela’s defense attorney Debra Dewitt said at Thursday’s arraignment, CBS reported. “I’m saying at this point in time, my client is innocent. I think there’s a lot of information that we need to know.”

Beliard death has devastated his family, friends, and the Worcester community where he played as a freshman on Salem State’s basketball team.

“He loved basketball so much,” his mother Altagrace Beliard told WBZ-TV. “He loved his brother. He was a happy kid. He was really happy. He was really happy with the school. He was doing well.”