Matthew David Dean, 18, pleaded not guilty to 11 felony charges stemming from the Aug. 3 shooting deaths of David Dean, 40, and Terri Dean, 35, and the knife attack on Bethany Dean at their home in the Belle Meade Country Club subdivision.

Bethany survived the attack, after which her brother fled to Florida in his parents' car. He was captured inside the grounds of Kennedy Space Center after a head-on collision with a pickup that killed the driver, Eddie Delawder, 52, of Winter Park, Fla.

More than a dozen family members and friends were present Monday to hear Mr. Dean plead innocent to two counts of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, four counts of aggravated assault and weapons charges.

Mr. Dean was brought to Thomson last week from the Fulton County jail medical ward, where he had been recuperating from injuries he received in the wreck, including broken legs and internal injuries. He appeared before Superior Court Judge E. Pernell Davis on crutches with his lawyer, Lucy Bell.

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Before entering the courtroom, Mr. Dean was allowed to visit with relatives and friends, including his aunts and maternal grandmother, Wanda Hyman. As he left the courtroom to return to the McDuffie County jail escorted by McDuffie County Sheriff Logan Marshall, Mr. Dean nodded toward the group, many of whom were in tears.

The Deans were well-known in Thomson, and the slayings shocked and saddened many people. David Dean worked at J.M. Huber Corp.'s Wrens plant and built houses in his off time, assisted by his wife, a substitute teacher at Norris Elementary School. The couple would build a house and move into it and then repeat the process. They had been in the Belle Meade house only two months before they were killed.

Matt Dean has been described by family members and others in Thomson as a ''wonderful boy" and ''beautiful child" until about two years ago.

''He really was a wonderful boy," his aunt, Cindy Amerson, said recently. ''David raised him right. David believed in discipline for the kids. What started his problem was the drugs. I don't think Matt meant to do what he did. He just got in with the wrong crowd, and the drugs really messed him up."

District Attorney Dennis Sanders said he had not decided what punishment he would seek for Mr. Dean.

''At this point, I have not been briefed by the GBI as to all the facts," Mr. Sanders said.

Reach Sylvia Cooper at (706) 823-3228 or sylviaco@augustachronicle.com.