A 49-year-old boxing trainer was charged Thursday with murder in the death of a fellow coach, and with trying to kill a young boxer and injuring another in a shooting spree at a Vista boxing gym last week.

In an arraignment at the Vista courthouse, Mark Anthony Diaz pleaded not guilty through his attorney to killing Hector Gil, 52, and the other charges.

He faces 84 years to life in prison if convicted on all charges, Deputy District Attorney Patrick Espinoza said.

Diaz, a tall, muscular man with cropped hair, has been held at the Vista jail since his arrest at his Carlsbad home the day after the shooting at the Pacific Coast Boxing Co. in Vista's Townsite neighborhood.

On Thursday, his bail was set at $10 million after Espinoza outlined the key evidence against him, including some newly released details.

On April 2, less than a week before the shooting, Gil got a message on his answering machine from a voice that sounded like Diaz's, Espinoza said.

The caller threatened to "bust a cap into" Gil.

Diaz apparently was upset because many of his promising boxers had decided to train with Gil, including Ricky Gutierrez, 21, who fought his first professional match this year. Diaz filed a $3,000 claim in court against Gutierrez alleging breach of contract, Espinoza said.

The unhappy trainer also had recently been barred from the Vista boxing gym after its owner, Ari Soltani, filed a restraining order against him, alleging Diaz had threatened him and others.

Soltani also said the gym charged only nominal fees and targeted low-income youth, but Diaz, who was supposed to be a volunteer, was charging some kids extra fees.

On April 7, a little after 9 p.m., Gil, Gutierrez, and about five other people were in the gym when "a hand belonging to the defendant reached through an opening," Espinoza said.

In the hand was a gun, which fired six times, the prosecutor said. Gil was hit twice, and one of the bullets went through him and wounded volunteer coach Peter Moreno, 56.

Gutierrez tried to run away into the small gym, Espinoza said.

"The hand then tracks the movement of Mr. Gutierrez," the prosecutor said.

The young boxer was shot in the leg. He and Moreno are recovering, said Hector Gil Jr., 34, the slain man's eldest son, who was at the gym the night his father was killed.

Espinoza said witnesses described the clothes the shooter was wearing and the vehicle he left in.

Similar clothing and the vehicle were seized at Diaz's home the next day, he said. The prosecutor said an acquaintance of Diaz's told investigators Diaz had kept a handgun.

About 20 of the slain man's family members attended Diaz's arraignment Thursday. Gil is survived by his wife, two sons, two daughters, four grandchildren, nine siblings and plenty of extended family.

Gil Jr. said his dad was a great man whose own father had trained him to box. He volunteered at the gym because he loved it and wanted to encourage young people.

The elder Gil didn't have any problem with Diaz, even though Diaz apparently was upset with him, Gil Jr. said.

"He thought he was his friend," he said.

On Monday this week, the district attorney's office only charged Diaz with criminal threats, saying more investigation was needed to charge Diaz with murder.

Gil Jr. said that motivated family members canvassed the area around the boxing club looking for people who saw Diaz in the neighborhood before or after the shooting and asked them to pass the information to homicide detectives.

Call staff writer Sarah Gordon at 760-740-3517.