One of two men accused of shooting dead 14-year-old schoolgirl Danielle Beccan has denied any part in her murder.
Danielle was walking home when she was shot
Junior Andrews, 24, is alleged to have fired the shots that hit the teenager as she and friends walked through St Ann's, Nottingham, on 9 October 2004.
Asked at Birmingham Crown Court if he was responsible for her death, Mr Andrews replied: "No, sir."
Mr Andrews, of no fixed address, and Mark Kelly, 20, of Wilford Grove, Nottingham, both deny murder.
The court heard that Mr Andrews and Mr Kelly, who is alleged to have been driving the car from which the shots were fired, were from the Meadows, a rival area of the city, and were both members of a local street gang.
Known also as "Prentice" or "Prento" from his time as a trainee barber, Mr Andrews took his shirt off to show the jury his tattoos.
He showed them an "NG2" tattoo on his neck, the postcode for The Meadows. He also has a revolver and the initials "WFG", standing for The Waterfront Gang.
Mr Andrews revealed he owned body armour, bought after he and friends were shot at in a kebab shop, but said he was not wearing it on the night Danielle was killed.
Born in Northampton, Mr Andrews lived in St Ann's, Nottingham, until he was 13 before moving to The Meadows.
He insisted he did not have any "beef" (problems) with people in St Ann's.
Mr Andrews said: "I don't particularly like them or dislike them. I don't hate everybody from St Ann's. I know people I used to go to school together. We do business (drugs) together."
The prosecution claims the pair had burgled a house in the Clifton area of Nottingham hours before Danielle was shot as she returned home from the city's annual Goose Fair.
Property from the break-in was found in the boot of the car while mobile phone records placed the pair together in the relevant areas in and around the time of the shooting, it was alleged.
The car, a gold-coloured Citroen Xsara, was also allegedly seen in St Ann's at the same time.
But Orlando Pownall, defending, suggested the jury had heard no evidence to place the defendant at the scene or that he was the killer.
"He comes from a background which, I anticipate, is wholly different from any background that you have experienced or, indeed, would wish to have experienced," he said.
"He's a drug dealer. He's been unfaithful to his girlfriends, if that's the correct term. He's led them all a merry dance. You will probably dislike him and dislike his way of life.
"But a criminal trial is not a popularity contest or a beauty pageant. The case is simple to state: can you be sure that Junior Andrews was sat in the front passenger seat of that car at the time a fatal shot was fired?"
'She is a liar'
Mr Pownall suggested the jury would want to look at the evidence of Mr Andrews's girlfriend, Natalie Gee.
She has said in a statement read to the court that he told her he was in the car on the night Danielle was shot, but he did not pull the trigger.
Mr Pownall said: "Natalie Gee, we will submit at the appropriate time, is a liar."
The court has heard that Ms Gee had made a serious allegation in a police statement against a solicitor in the case, whose firm was representing Andrews.
Mr Pownal said those claims would be shown to be "a pack of lies"
The trial is set to continue on Wednesday.