Man pleads not guilty in slaying of 17-year-old boy

An upstate New York man has been arraigned on murder charges in the shooting death of a teenager whose family fled their war-torn African homeland for a better life in the U.S.

Twenty-two-year-old Thomas Slivienski, of Watervliet (wah-ter-vuh-LEET’), pleaded not guilty Friday during his arraignment on second-degree murder charges.

Slivienski is accused of killing 17-year-old Johni Dunia on Nov. 16 on a bicycle path in the city of Cohoes (kuh-HOHZ’), just north of Albany.

Dunia was a junior at Cohoes High School. He, his mother and siblings fled the Democratic Republic of Congo eight years ago to escape war and upheaval.

A motive for the slaying hasn’t been released by police.

Slivienski is being held in the county jail without bail. The public defender representing him hasn’t commented on the charges.