SAN DIEGO -- A woman accused of being the getaway driver in the robbery and slayings of an East County liquor store owner and one of her employees pleaded not guilty Tuesday to murder charges that could lead to the death penalty.

Nichele Delon Hopson, 23, was taken into custody Friday in the Oakland area, said Deputy District Attorney Glenn McAllister.

At her arraignment Tuesday, the defendant was ordered held without bail by Superior Court Judge Patricia Cookson.

Hopson was charged with two counts of murder and special circumstance allegations of murder during a robbery, murder during a burglary and multiple murders.

Hopson allegedly served as a getaway driver for the masked bandits who held up Granada Liquor co-owner Heather Mattia, 22, and 23-year-old Firas Eiso 19 months ago before shooting them both in the head, El Cajon police Sgt. Frank La Haye said earlier.

In July, a judge ordered the accused robbers, Anthony James Miller, 21, and Jean Pierre Rices, 25, to stand trial for the slayings.

A decision will be made later on whether any of the defendants will face the death penalty or life in prison if convicted.

According to prosecutors, the men entered the downtown El Cajon market located at 930 Broadway about 11 p.m. March 1, 2006, wearing hooded jackets and gloves.

Debbie Mays, Rices' girlfriend at the time of the crime, testified at a preliminary hearing that Rices told her he shot Mattia because she refused to open a safe.

Dwayne Hooks, Mays' brother, said in court that Rices told him at a July 2006 picnic that he shot Eiso and Mattia after Eiso ripped his mask off.

Hopson, who also had dated Rices for a time, was employed at a supermarket in Castro Valley at the time of her arrest, the sergeant said.

The defendant will be back in court Nov. 29 for a status conference. A preliminary hearing was tentatively set for Dec. 6.