Murder charge for US man with cannon-like device

A California man who allegedly ignited a homemade cannon that exploded and killed his girlfriend was charged with murder Thursday and pleaded not guilty.Prosecutors said Richard Fox was drinking with his girlfriend and friends Tuesday at the home in a tiny rural community near the Mexican border. Fox went outside and lit the fuse to a steel pipe that he had stuck into the ground outside, authorities said.The tube was packed with powder taken from fireworks and some kind of projectile. The girlfriend, 38-year-old Jeanette Ogara, was struck in the chest by shrapnel that tore into the home. Fox injured his leg.Fox, 39, was also charged with exploding a destructive device and child endangerment, because the couples sleeping 4-year-old daughter was in their home at the time of the blast. The child was unharmed.If convicted of all charges, Fox faces life in prison without parole. He remained jailed, and it wasnt immediately clear if he had obtained an attorney. Bail was set at $3.5 million.Fox served at least three prison sentences in the 1990s for auto theft and weapons possession convictions.