Police stand by at the crime scene on Raymond Avenue. (Alan Mittelstaedt/Neon Tommy)

Bryan Barnes, 20, and Javier Bolden, 19, accused of murdering two Chinese USC students in April, pleaded not guilty to murder charges Wednesday morning.

According to City News Service, the charges also include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and murder during the commission of a robbery.  

Closer to trial, the prosecutors will decide whether to seek the death penalty. 

According to a report by the Associated Press, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Shelly Torrealba at one point chastised Bolden and Barnes "for smiling and talking to each other during the hearing." Torrealba ordered the two men to remain in jail without bail. 

They were arrested May 18, and are due back in court Sept. 20, when a date will be set for a hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a trial. 

Barnes and Bolden also face charges for attempted murder of a 20-year-old man during a party in South Los Angeles Dec. 3. 

Barnes faces an additional count of attempted murder and assault with a semiautomatic firearm for allegedly firing and injuring two people during another South L.A. party on Feb. 12.

Barnes and Bolden allegedly murdered Qu Ming and Wu Ying, both 23-year-old international students studying electrical engineering at USC. 

They were attacked while double-parked on the 2700 block of Raymond Avenue in Ming's 2003 BMW. 

Read more of Neon Tommy's coverage of the USC murders here.

Reach Executive Producer Michael Juliani here, and follow him on Twitter here.