Cobb County parolee and semiprofessional bodybuilder Johnnie Lee Wiggins pleaded not guilty Thursday to second-degree murder in a Christmas Eve beating death that occurred 2,600 miles from where he was supposed to be living.

Wiggins, 48, entered his plea during an arraignment in Seattle, Woodinville (WA) Patch reported.

Prosecutors in King County also filed an allegation that the murder of Woodinville High School teacher Prudence Hockley occurred in the presence of a minor, Hockley's 13-year-old daughter, Woodinville Patch said.

That's an aggravating circumstance that could be used to extend the sentence from 20 years to life in prison if Wiggins is convicted.

Wiggins, who had dated Hockley, was allowed to move to Washington state after his release from prison in 2008 on charges including aggravated assault in Cobb and Douglas counties.

He was ordered to return to Cobb County in May after authorities in Washington said he assaulted his probation officer and was found to have a stash of illegal steroids.

He checked in with the parole office in Marietta in mid-August but was allowed to remain on unsupervised probation, meaning he didn't have regularly scheduled meetings with an officer.

Wiggins violated that status by returning to Washington without notifying the parole office, a Georgia Department of Corrections official has said. Woodinville Patch has found he was back in Seattle working as a personal trainer at least two months before the slaying.

Still jailed on $5 million bail, Wiggins is due back in court Jan. 24. That's three days after a memorial scheduled for Hockley.