Charles Holifield pleads not guilty to 1998 murder of Christina Williams.

Appearing in court with a disheveled look with long white hair and a long, trimmed beard to match a white prison jumpsuit, Charles Holifield held up his middle finger to half a dozen members of the media and the public in Monterey County Superior Court on Tuesday.

Holifield, 56, pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder with special circumstances for kidnapping and sexual assault and one count of kidnapping with the intent for sexual assault with a minor in the 1998 abduction and murder of then-13-year-old Christina Williams who went out to walk the family dog and never returned.

Holifield was serving a sentence for assault with intent to commit rape and numerous other sexual assaults at Valley State Prison in Chowchilla before recently being transferred to the California Training Facility in Soledad.

Megan Ruiz-Ignacio, a family friend to the Williams’ family, spoke to the media outside the courthouse, relaying feelings of the Williams’ parents Mike and Alice.

“This was a senseless murder that should never had happened,” she said. “We’ll just be prayerful and hope that this will end soon and not be dragged out.”

Ruiz-Ignacio commented on Holifield’s middle finger gesture.

“For him to do that is just a blatant hit to the gut,” she said.

If convicted, the crimes could be punishable by death. Monterey County Assistant District Attorney Jeannine Pacioni said it will be up to District Attorney Dean Flippo whether to seek the death penalty.

Flippo will base that decision on several factors, Pacioni said, including input from family members and mitigating circumstances presented by Holifield's defense team. The decision on whether to pursue the death penalty won't be made until the preliminary hearing.

Holifield is due back in court on June  28 at 8:30am to schedule a hearing date for the preliminary hearing, when prosecutors lay out the basis of their case against him.