A former Nevada state prison guard trainee made his first court appearance on an involuntary manslaughter charge in the shotgun killing of a handcuffed inmate in a prison hallway in 2014.
Raynaldo John Ruiz Ramos wasn't asked Wednesday to enter a plea in the killing of Carlos Perez Jr.
Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Cynthia Cruz set an Aug. 2 preliminary hearing.
Ramos and defense attorney Joshua Tomsheck declined outside court to comment.
Authorities say Perez and another inmate were shot while they brawled in a hallway at High Desert State Prison outside Las Vegas. The other prisoner was wounded, but Ramos isn't charged with injuring him.
A lawyer for Perez's family alleges that guards staged a "gladiator-like scenario" to let the inmates fight before they were shot.