Nima Momeni pleads not guilty to murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee
SAN FRANCISCO - The man accused of murdering Cash App founder Bob Lee pleaded not guilty in a San Francisco courtroom Thursday morning.
Judge Victor Hwang ordered Nima Momeni, 38, to be kept in jail without bail, saying there was a high probability his release could result in great bodily harm to others. Momeni who appeared in an orange jumpsuit, did not speak. His attorney Paula Canny entered the plea on his behalf.
Canny told reporters that her client did not mean to kill Lee.
"I'm going to say my defense is, it is an accident with a cross between self-defense and accident," she said. "There was no premeditation, deliberation, absolutely not."
Suspect pleads not guilty to murdering Cash app founder Bob Lee
Nima Momeni pleaded not guilty to murdering Bob Lee, who founded the Cash app, in San Francisco. He will be held in jail without bail. Momeni's attorney said she will argue that Lee was mortally wounded with a kitchen knife in an accident.
Prosecutors said Momeni stabbed Lee multiple times with a kitchen knife after a dispute involving Momeni's younger sister, Khazar Elyassnia. She appeared in court Thursday alongside Momeni’s mother. Prosecutors said that Momeni’s DNA was found on the blade handle of the knife and Lee’s blood was on the blade.
Momeni's attorney said the DNA evidence recovered at the scene does not tell the whole story.
SEE ALSO: Cash App founder Bob Lee died after 4 hours on operating table, autopsy reveals
Lee was found on a San Francisco street in the Rincon Hill neighborhood on April 4. His death shocked San Francisco’s tech community.
Cash App founder Bob Lee and stabbing suspect Nima Momeni knew each other
As Nima Momeni is set to appear in San Francisco Superior Court on Friday to face a murder charge, the wider public is asking: How did he know Cash App founder Bob Lee? And why would he allegedly stab him to death earlier this month?
District Attorney Brooke Jenkins said evidence points to Momeni as the killer.
"We absolutely don't believe this is a who done it. We believe that we have the murderer of Mr. Lee, and that's Mr. Momeni. So there is no question on our minds that we charged the correct person who killed Mr. Lee," said Jenkins.
Canny said police never looked into the possibility of self-defense, so the investigation into this case was flawed from the outset.
"Part of the reason we're here today is because the police didn't go and speak Nima Momeni that night, who would have easily given them the explanation of what happened and why it happened," said Canny.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.