SAN DIEGO -- Prosecutors Tuesday filed assault and child endangerment charges against a Southcrest dance hall owner already charged with murder in the fatal shooting of an unarmed man at the end of a birthday party.

Virgil Gordon, 70, faces life in prison if convicted in the July 16 death of 39-year-old Silverio Rivera-Cruz, a married father of two.

The victim's funeral expenses were paid by the Crime Victims Compensation Fund because his wife and children would have been destitute without the financial help, said Deputy District Attorney David Berry.

The victim was the brother of the person who rented the Southcrest Cultural Arts Center from the defendant for a Quinceanera, a party to celebrate a girl's 15th birthday.

At Gordon's July 19 arraignment, Berry told a judge that Gordon went to the Southcrest center about 1:50 a.m. and became angry because people at the party "were not doing exactly what he told them to do."

Gordon brandished a .357-caliber handgun in the hall, which was filled with adults and children, Berry alleged. Included in the group was a 10-year-old child who Gordon allegedly assaulted with the gun, the prosecutor said.

Defense attorney Frank Ragen said at the arraignment that his client may have been struck in the head by chairs thrown at him before the shooting.

Ragen told the judge that Gordon didn't just walk into the hall and start shooting.

According to the contract, the hall was rented from 7 p.m. until 2 a.m., with cleanup to begin at 1:30 a.m., Ragen said.

Gordon, a San Diegan for 55 years, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges of murder, three counts of child endangerment and two counts of assault with a deadly weapon.

The defendant, who is out of custody on $750,000 bail, was ordered to return to court Oct. 12 for a preliminary hearing.