Linda Vista woman and her live-in boyfriend pleaded not guilty in San Diego Superior Court yesterday to charges that they murdered her 3-year-old daughter.

Azul Penaloza Galenea and Jose Soto Galicia, both 22, could face the death penalty if convicted in the slaying of the girl, prosecutor Teresa Santana told Judge David Szumowski during the couple's arraignment.

The judge ordered them held in jail in lieu of $1 million bail each pending a May 1 hearing to determine if there is sufficient evidence for a trial.

Prosecutor Santana told the judge that a preliminary investigation showed that the child may have been sexually molested and physically abused prior to her death.

Santana said there were signs of earlier injuries that were starting to heal at the time of the child's death.

An autopsy conducted in Tijuana where the injured girl was taken by her grandparents before she died showed that she died of a cerebral hemorrhage caused by blunt-force trauma.

Galicia and Galenea were arrested Thursday after San Diego police were notified by Mexican authorities of the girl's death.