AUGUSTA — In a chaotic, cocaine-fueled February night in a Flagg Street apartment, one man was killed the day before his birthday, a woman was shot and injured, and the man accused of doing the shooting was stabbed and beaten.

Edward Longley, 30, the Skowhegan man charged in the case, pleaded not guilty Friday to charges he shot and killed Billyjack Curtis, 51, of Augusta, and shot and injured Sherry Gilley, 40, of Brunswick Feb. 2, at Curtis’ Flagg Street apartment in Augusta, where several people had gathered to celebrate his birthday.

Court documents and testimony Friday at the Capital Judicial Center indicate Longley and others at the party were using cocaine. An argument took place, apparently a dispute over bottled water, before Longley allegedly shot and killed Curtis.

An affidavit filed in the case alleges Longley shot Curtis and Gilley, then was stabbed during an attack in response to the shooting. But in the affidavit, witness accounts of what happened that night vary on details, painting a picture of a chaotic scene inside the apartment where Curtis and his wife, Jessica Curtis, had been letting Longley and his girlfriend, Mikaela Lee, stay after they lost their apartment, and where Billyjack Curtis ended up dead on his living room floor.

“It’s easy to be simplistic about this case, but there are multiple narratives about what happened in that small space, that night,” said Longley’s attorney, Daniel Dube.

After pleading not guilty to charges of murder, elevated aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person Friday, Longley was denied bail by Superior Court Justice Michaela Murphy. Murphy agreed with a state prosecutor that if released on bail, Longley could present a risk to the public and could also be at risk of committing new crimes.

So he remains held without bail at Kennebec County jail.

An autopsy by Liam Fuente, the state’s deputy chief medical examiner, determined the cause of Curtis’ death was multiple gunshot wounds and the manner of his death was homicide. He had been shot three times.

Multiple witnesses said Longley, fresh off an argument about bottled water, fired his gun multiple times in the apartment, and that he shot and killed Curtis, according to an affidavit by Maine State Police Detective Shaunna Beaudoin, though it’s not clear how many witnesses claimed to have seen the shooting take place.

Gilley told police Longley shot her, although she didn’t immediately realize she had been shot. She also said Longley was the only one with a gun there that night. Gilley was taken to MaineGeneral Medical Center in Augusta then to Maine Medical Center in Portland, with gunshot wounds to her left elbow and left knee.

Longley, meanwhile, wrote out a statement, but declined to answer questions from police. In it, Longley wrote he was bringing his gun out to his car after being told to do so by Curtis when he was attacked by three others who had been at the gathering, one of whom grabbed his gun from his waist and took it from him. He said one of them stabbed him in the face and his side, causing blood to run down his face.

The affidavit said Longley did not reference any shooting in his statement.

Other witnesses said others at the gathering attacked Longley after he’d shot Curtis and Gilley, and knocked the gun out of his hand.

Longley was treated at MaineGeneral Medical Center overnight for injuries to his torso and head.

He was arrested in March in Skowhegan and was charged with killing Curtis on Feb. 2 and has been held without bail since.

Prosecutor Mark Rucci, an assistant attorney general, argued that Longley presented a risk to others and the public and was at risk of committing new crimes if allowed out on bail.

“This was a shooting in a crowded house with multiple witnesses, who point to Mr. Longley,” as the shooter, Rucci said, adding that drug use was taking place that night at the house. He said Longley had previously been on probation, after being convicted of domestic violence assault and criminal threatening, in 2019.

Dube countered that Longley’s criminal record was fairly limited and he had a stable place to live, at a Skowhegan apartment he shared with his girlfriend. And he would agree to being under house arrest there, if released on bail.

Dube said Longley, due to the attack he suffered during the incident, sometimes has blurry vision, crosses his eyes and experiences confusion, and said his medical needs were not being sufficiently addressed in jail. He sought to have Longley be released on bail.

Murphy declined and ordered him to remain held without bail, expressing concerns Longley would pose a risk of violence if released, noting how he allegedly responded disproportionately in the incident that followed the argument over bottled water to what appeared to be a minor dispute.

Longley’s trial could potentially take place in May 2027.