Prosecutors allege that Clenny Thierry, 52, stabbed 42-year-old Kenneth Lyon, who was sitting on a curb outside the fast-food restaurant near the corner of Ninth and Natoma streets at about 6:30 p.m. on May 8.
Thierry pleaded not guilty in San Francisco Superior Court Tuesday morning to a murder charge and denied the special allegations of the use of a knife and that the murder was willful, deliberate and premeditated.
Thierry allegedly walked up behind Lyon and stabbed him with a knife. Lyon was taken to San Francisco General Hospital where he was pronounced dead, and officers quickly apprehended Thierry a short distance away in the 1200 block of Howard Street, police said.
A motive for the killing has not been released by police or prosecutors.
Prosecutors said today that Thierry also had an August 2011 conviction for brandishing a knife and threatening to cut someone's throat and was on probation when he allegedly killed Lyon.
He remains in custody on $5 million bail and will return to court June 5 for a status hearing in the case.
